Right of Reply by India at the 37th Session of Human Rights Council in response to the Statement made by Pakistan under the Agenda Item 3, delivered by Ms. Mini Devi Kumam, Second Secretary. [Geneva, 09 March 2018]
Mr. President,
My delegation would like to exercise its right of reply in response to a statement made by Pakistan under the Agenda Item 3.
2. Various international organizations have documented how enforced disappearances continue with impunity, 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 routinely abducted and forcibly married. The minorities are persecuted, including through notorious blasphemy laws.
3. It is extraordinary that the state which protected Osama Bin Laden and sheltered Mullah Omar should have the gumption to play the 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. They are raising funds in flagrant violations of Pakistan’s international obligations.
4. Pakistan keeps referring to UN Security Council Resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir. However, it very conveniently forgets its own obligation under these resolutions to first vacate the illegal occupation of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. It has also blatantly disregarded its other commitments, be it under the 1972 Simla Agreement or Lahore Declaration of February 1999. They continue 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.
5. Even as terrorists thrive in Pakistan and roam its streets with impunity, we have heard it lecture about the protection of human rights in India. The World does not need lessons on democracy and human rights from a country whose own situation is charitably described as a failed state.
Thank you, Mr. President.
