Right of Reply under Oral Update of the High Commissioner under Agenda 2 delivered by Mr. Pawankumar Badhe First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India, [Geneva, 15th September, 2021] Right of Reply under Oral Update of the High Commissioner under Agenda 2 delivered by Mr. Pawankumar..

Right of Reply under Oral Update of the High Commissioner under Agenda 2 delivered by Mr. Pawankumar Badhe First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India, [Geneva, 15th September, 2021]

48th session of the Human Rights Council

(13th September – 8th October, 2021)

Right of Reply under Oral Update of the High Commissioner under Agenda 2 delivered by Mr. Pawankumar Badhe First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India,

[Geneva, 15th September, 2021]

Madam Vice-President,

We exercise our right of reply to the statements made by Pakistan and the OIC under the oral update of the High Commissioner.

Madam Vice-President,

2. It has become a habit for Pakistan to misuse the platforms provided by the Council to propagate its false and malicious propaganda against my country. The Council is aware of Pakistan’s attempts to divert the Council’s attention from serious human rights violations being perpetrated by its Government, including in the territories occupied by it.

3. Pakistan has failed to protect the rights of its minorities, including Sikhs, Hindus, Christians and Ahmadiyas. Thousands of women and girls from minority communities have been subjected to abductions, forced marriages and conversions in Pakistan and its occupied territories. Pakistan has been engaged in systematic persecution, forced conversions, targeted killings, sectarian violence and faith-based discrimination against its ethnic and religious minorities. Incidents of violence against minority communities, including attacks on their places of worship, their cultural heritage, as well as their private property have taken place with impunity. A ‘climate of fear’ continues to drastically impact the daily lives of minorities.

Madam Vice-President,

4. Dissenting voices from civil societies, human rights defenders, journalists are muzzled daily in Pakistan, with the support of the Government. Enforced disappearances, Extra judicial killings, murders and abductions have been used as a tool for subjugation and to muzzle any form of dissent or criticism. The impunity with which such abuses have been carried out exposes the hollowness of Pakistan’s commitment to human rights.

5. Pakistan is a country which has been globally recognized as a country openly supporting, training, financing and arming terrorists including UN proscribed terrorists, as a matter of State policy. The relevant multilateral institutions have been raising serious concerns on its failure to stop terror financing and lack of effective actions against terror entities.

Madam Vice-President,

6. We once again regret and reject the reference made by the OIC to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir which is an integral part of India. The OIC has no locus standi to comment on internal affairs of India. The OIC has helplessly allowed itself to be held hostage by Pakistan, which holds the Chairmanship of their Geneva Chapter, to subserve its own Agenda. It’s for the members of the OIC to decide if it is in their interest to allow Pakistan to do so.

Madam Vice-President,

7. India, as not only the world’s largest democracy but a robustly functional and vibrant one, does not need lessons from a failed State like Pakistan which is the epicentre of terrorism and worst abuser of Human Rights.

Thank you, Madam Vice-President.

 

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