Right of Reply by India in response to the Statement made by Pakistan Under the Agenda Item 4 at the 37th Session of UN Human Rights Council, delivered by Dr Sumit Seth, Counsellor on 14 March 2018.
Mr President,
My delegation would like to exercise its right of reply in response to a statement made by Pakistan.
2. It is most regrettable that Pakistan has yet again chosen to consume the Council’s precious time for making claims and allegations against India when Pakistan’s own deplorable record on human rights and its dubious history as a major source of terrorism in our region and beyond is already widely known.
3. Various international organizations have repeatedly reported on how enforced disappearances continue with impunity in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh where people are routinely abducted and unlawfully killed. More than a million people remain displaced as a result of the current and past armed conflicts in the northwest of Pakistan. Women and girls, especially from minority communities, are abducted and forcibly married. The minorities are persecuted, including through notorious blasphemy laws.
4. Terrorism is the most fundamental violation of human rights, Mr. President. Pakistan has long been attempting to mask its territorial ambitions in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir, which is an integral and inseparable part of India, and use of terrorism as a state policy under the guise of concern for human rights. Pakistan has continued to support cross-border terrorism in India. We await credible action by the Government of Pakistan to bring all those involved in the 2008 Mumbai attack and the 2016 Pathankot and Uri attacks - to justice.
Mr President
5. Is it not woefully farcical that the state which protected Osama Bin Laden and sheltered Mullah Omar should make the pretence of being a victim? In gross violation of UN Security Council resolution 1267, the UN designated terrorists like Hafiz Mohammed Saeed are freely operating with State support, and the UN designated entities are being politically mainstreamed in Pakistan. Do we all need lessons on democracy and human rights from a country with such a track record, a country whose own situation is charitably described as a failed state?
6. As regards the references to India in the OIC statement of earlier today, we out rightly reject all those references. The OIC has no locus standi on India’s internal affairs.
Thank you, Mr. President.
