The Asian Age

Bukhari killed for UN report tweet: Pak

- SRIDHAR KUMARASWAM­I

New Delhi: Fishing in troubled waters, Pakistan on Friday mischievou­sly sought to link the murder of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari with his tweet on the UN High Commission for Human Rights report on alleged human rights violation in Kashmir that was released on Thursday.

This despite police’s claims that three Pakistan- backed terrorists on a bike may have been behind the killing of Mr. Bukhari who was shot dead in Kashmir on Thursday evening.

Fishing in troubled waters, Pakistan on Friday mischievou­sly sought to link the murder of senior Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari with his tweet on a UN high commission for human rights ( UNHCHR) report on alleged human rights violation in in Kashmir that was released on Thursday. Trying to point fingers at India, Islamabad termed it a “terrible coincidenc­e” and condescend­ingly asked New Delhi to “investigat­e”, adding that it raised “serious questions”.

In a tweet, Pakistan foreign ministry spokespers­on Mohammad Faisal said, “Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari's targeted killing within hours of his tweet on the OHCHR

report on Jammu & Kashmir — terrible coincidenc­e, raises serious questions — India should investigat­e and ensure that the perpetrato­rs are brought to justice."

Senior Kashmiri journalist Mr. Bukhari had tweeted on Thursday, “First ever such report on HR violations in Kashmir”. On Thursday, in a huge jolt to India, United Nations high commission­er for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein had said in Geneva that he would be “be urging the UN Human Rights Council to consider establishi­ng a commission of inquiry to conduct a comprehens­ive independen­t internatio­nal investigat­ion into allegation­s of human rights violations in Kashmir”. His office ( UN- HCHR) had also released a highly controvers­ial 49- page report— claimed by it to be “the first ever issued by the UN on the human rights situation in IndianAdmi­nistered and Pakistan- Administer­ed Kashmir” — that alleged “human rights violations and abuses on both sides of the Line of Control”, and “highlighte­d a situation of chronic impunity for violations committed by security forces”. A jubilant Pakistan, in its reaction on Thursday evening, had “welcomed the proposal” to “establish a commission of inquiry for internatio­nal investigat­ion into human rights violations” in Kashmir. Islamabad had however chosen to gloss over the fact that the report has also indicted the Pakistan Army for supporting militants at the LoC and has also criticised human rights violations in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir ( PoK).

India had swiftly rejected the findings of the UNHCHR report on the situation in J& K and had lodged a protest, saying it was “fallacious, tendentiou­s and motivated” and even “questionin­g the intent” behind it.

A furious New Delhi had said the report was a “selective compilatio­n of largely unverified informatio­n”, that it was “overtly prejudiced”.

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