Speech by Speaker of National Assembly of Pakistan at 36th Executive Meeting of Parliamentary Union of OIC at Ankara on 18 October 2016

Bismillah Irr Rehman Irr Raheem
Excellency Mr. Ismail KAHRAMAN,
Honb’le Speaker of the Grand Turkish Assembly and the Chairman of the 36th Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Parliamentary Union of Islamic Countries!
Distinguished Speakers, Chairpersons, Presidents of the Parliaments, Heads of the Delegations of the PUIC Executive Committee Member Countries!
Secretary General of the PUIC,
Ladies & Gentlemen,
Assalaam Alaikum!
On behalf of my delegation and on my own behalf, I express my profound gratitude to my brother, H.E. Mr. Ismail KAHRAMAN the Honbl’e Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the Government of Turkey for the warm hospitality and excellent arrangements of this Meeting.
My delegation also wishes to strongly endorse the fruitful outcome of the 36th Meeting of the PUIC Executive Committee and congratulates the Hon’ble Chairman on our unanimous agreement of the draft of Ankara Declaration. 
The Parliament and the people of Pakistan also reaffirm their complete solidarity and support to their Turkish brothers and sisters in their heroic struggle for protecting their democratic and constitutional rights.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
Today, I address this august gathering ---- the representative body of 57 Islamic Countries;
·      A robust market of 1.7 billion people;
·      A collective economy of US$ 19 trillion;
·      And the destination and source of 2.2 trillion Dollars trade
---- to present the case of the defenceless and vulnerable Muslims of Indian Occupied Kashmir.
It has now been almost seven decades that India had been trying to crush the genuine indigenous movement of Kashmiris for their right to self-determination with complete impunity.
The Kashmiri Muslims have paid a huge price for their struggle.
·      Over the years, Indian occupation forces have martyred more than 100,000 Muslim Kashmiris.
·      Some 130,000 have been arrested and are languishing in Indian jails.
·      Over 20,000 Kashmiri men are missing with their fate unknown.
·      There is an estimated figure of 107,000 children orphaned; 23,000 women widowed, around 11,000 women dishonoured in mass rapes, and tens of thousands severely injured people as a result of continued torture.
There is a systematic effort by India to bring about demographic change in Indian Occupied Kashmir. Already, the total percentage of Muslim population has, reportedly, gone down from 79% in 1947 to 68%, as of now.
Honourable Chair!
 Indian efforts to equate Kashmiri Muslims’ self-determination movement with terrorism have been rejected by the OIC countries, for which we deeply appreciate the leadership of all the OIC Members. By and large, International Community has also not subscribed to the Indian notion.
As a matter of fact, it is India, which has unleashed worst state terrorism against unarmed Kashmiri Muslims.
This is manifested in the numerous draconian laws, enacted over the years to give limitless powers and immunity to its occupation forces from legal accountability.
These include:
·      The Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1990 (AFSPA),
·      Prevention of Terrorism Act 2002 (POTA),
·      The Terrorist & Disruptive Activities Act 1990 (TADA),
·      J&K Public Safety Act 1978 and the list goes on.
Let me also invite your attention to the fact that in 2009, Kashmiri Human Rights Activists and a Lawyer, Parvez Imroz, Parvez Khurram and their friends, discovered around 3,000 Unnamed Mass Graves in 3 districts of Indian Occupied Kashmir with each grave having multiple corpses.
This shocking disclosure was further authenticated by a preliminary but comprehensive 112-page report, entitled ‘Buried Evidence’, which was published by an Indian Occupied Kashmir based NGO, the International People’s Tribunal. It exposed Indian occupation forces’ atrocities and India’s blatant lies about cross-LOC infiltrations and fake encounters in which they had been killing indigenous Kashmiris by calling them foreign infiltrators.

I strongly urge on the Secretary General PUIC to issue a demand for an independent probe into this genocide, led by Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission or jointly with UNHRC Geneva. I have provided a DVD on Mass Graves, which was produced by the United Kingdom’s Channel 4 TV, and the Report I mentioned. In the light of these documentary proofs, the IPHRC Team may meet the members of the ‘Association of the Parents of Disappeared’ to further corroborate facts.
Distinguished Brothers & Sisters!
The recent spate of terror, unleashed by the Indian forces in wake of the extrajudicial killing of teenager Kashmiri social media icon and leader of Self-Determination Movement, Burhan Muzaffar Wani, on 8 July 2016 merit the immediate notice by the International community.
The gravity of the situation and intensity of Indian occupation forces’ worst ever atrocities in human history would be visible from the facts and some of short presentations that I have brought with me.
A brief slide show will show you all as to how the children have been butchered and blinded by the use of pellet guns. Please spare a few minutes to see the Indian brutalities against Kashmiri Muslims.
 [Slide Show, video clips & Statistics of deaths (over 100), eye-injured (over 800 with over 250 either blinded completely or partially) and other injuries (around 15,000)]
Distinguished Colleagues!
It is unfortunate that in the face of such grave violations of human rights of Kashmiri Muslims, none of the proponents and standard bearers of human rights protection ---- be it international forums or States, particularly, the Western World ---- have condemned India.
But OIC as a Forum, OIC Contact Group on Kashmir, IPHRC and the Secretary General OIC not only strongly condemned India but also effectively raised voice for the Kashmiris’ rights and called upon India for immediate halt to the Kashmiris’ bloodshed.
UN HR Commissioner also recognized grievous situation and called for sending a ‘Fact Finding Mission’ to Indian Occupied Kashmir in his address to the 33rd Session of UNHRC in Geneva last month.
Amnesty International’s offices in India were shut down when they expressed their concern over the grave situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir. Some of the members of civil society across Europe, North America and Nordic Region have held protest rallies and literary activities in support of Kashmiris.
They have been joined by the Diaspora of Kashmiris and Pakistanis as well as the Members of the Parliaments in those regions. While India remains defiant, the world attention on HR violations has brought immense pressure on India.
Even from within India, there had been severe reaction on the genocide of Kashmiri Muslims at the hands of Indian occupation forces. Let me quote just one example, which amply reflects what India is doing to the Kashmiris and how some in India have reacted.
Tariq Hameed Karra, a lawmaker from Srinagar, formally resigned from the Parliament in protest, stating:
 The prevailing situation in Kashmir is not only alarming but tragic as well. Every single day... the number of injured is out numbering hospital capacities and the number of arrested is out numbering the lock ups. For the first time in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, people of Kashmir were forced not to offer Eid prayers. The present situation can't be allowed to dither any more as it could have dangerous consequences for the state and region.
I also wish to inform Members of the Executive Committee that since 8th July, Kashmiris have not been allowed to offer Juma Prayers, which confirms persecution of Muslims in Indian Occupied Kashmir and exposes Indian false claims of being a democracy or a secular country.
India is desperately trying to deflect the International community’s focus on Indian Occupied Kashmir. The Baloch card, which actually further exposed Indian involvement in destabilizing activities in Pakistan, heating up of Line of Control with war rhetoric, sabotaging of SAARC Summit in Pakistan and Uri attack, timing of which could only suit India, are some of the manifestations of Indian desperation.
Indian war mongering will endanger not just the South Asian region but also the world at large. Therefore, in the greater interest of peace and stability India should be stopped from heightening tension.
Up till now Pakistan has shown restraint but any aggression from India will meet with full force. My nation is ready to protect Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity at all costs.
The entire responsibility would be on India for any eventualities. International Community should focus on Indian belligerence and not Pakistan. It’s India that needs counselling.
Concluding my speech, Pakistan proposes inclusion of Kashmir dispute on the agenda of the 5th meeting of Standing Specialized Committee on Political Affairs to discuss implementation of longstanding UN Security Council’s Resolutions on Kashmir.
To address the grave human rights situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir, Pakistan proposes inclusion of HR Violations in INDIAN OCCUPIED KASHMIR by India on the agenda of the Committee on Human Rights, Women & Family.  A draft of the resolution in this regard has already been submitted by my delegation.
My country also hopes that this august gathering will show solidarity with the Muslims of Kashmir by focusing on their plight in the Ankara Declaration.
And finally, I also wish to suggest considering establishment of Special Committee or a OIC Parliamentary Friendship Group on Kashmir.

I Thank You All for your consistent support! 

No comments:

Post a Comment