Lawmakers denounce India's 'war crimes' in Kashmir

Members of the National Assembly and Senate on Wednesday addressed the second day of a joint session of the parliament held to discuss Pakistan's future course of action in the wake of India's decision to revoke Article 370 of its constitution, stripping occupied Kashmir of its special status. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is expected to present a policy statement later in the day following a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), set to take place from 3pm to 6pm.

A resolution regarding the matter is also expected to be presented.

Both National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani took turns presiding over the joint session. Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said that India's actions in occupied Kashmir were tantamount to "war crimes done by a rogue government".

At the start of her address, Mazari said that in light of India's actions, the Pakistani people can call the Indian government a "rogue government".

"India has committed a war crime," she said, adding: "We are obligated to tell the whole world that India has committed an internationally recognised war crime."

She added that the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, which recognises Kashmir as a disputed territory, had been violated. Furthermore, Mazari said that the Simla agreement, which states that India cannot unilaterally change the status of Kashmir, had been violated.

"The violence India is carrying out is clearly ethnic cleansing and genocide," she said, adding that the international community should be asked where the UN's right to intervene had gone. She noted that the international body had accepted the right to intervene if there was a fear of a genocide taking place anywhere in the world.

Mazari noted that even the Indian Supreme Court had in 2016 ruled that the status of Kashmir could not be changed.

"Whichever way you look at it, India's actions are war crimes committed by a rogue government."

Additionally, the minister said that the use of cluster bombs along the Line of Control (LoC) by India was also in violation of a convention regarding the use of inhumane weapons that India and Pakistan were parties to.

"We should draw the international community's attention to this," she said, adding that there was already a strong opinion in the international community regarding the matter.