‘False, motivated narrative’: India protests against UN report on J&K

New Delhi: India has reacted strongly and lodged a diplomatic protest against a new report by the UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian government has called the report "false, with a motivated narrative". The report called on India to "respect the right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir as protected under international law".

The Ministry of External Affairs has accused the UN Commissioner of "legitimising terrorism" and said the assertions in the report are "in violation of India's sovereignty and territorial integrity and ignore the core issue of cross-border terrorism."

The Ministry also said, “The update of the Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is merely a continuation of the earlier false and motivated narrative on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.”

The assertions in the report are in violation of India's sovereignty and territorial integrity and ignore the core issue of cross-border terrorism, he said. "A situation created by years of cross-border terrorist attacks emanating from Pakistan has been ‘analysed' without any reference to its causality.”

"It is a... contrived effort to create an artificial parity between the world's largest and the most vibrant democracy and a country that openly practices state-sponsored terrorism," the Ministry of External Affairs said.

The report released by the UN High Commissioner on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir says that there are "serious human rights violations and patterns of impunity" in Jammu and Kashmir and significant human rights concerns witnessed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as well.

This includes what the UN body describes as the "excessive use of force" by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, torture, "arbitrary" detentions of dissidents and internet shut downs in the area.

India’s official diplomatic protest replied, "The entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Pakistan is in illegal and forcible occupation of a part of the Indian state, including the so called 'Azad Jammu and Kashmir' and 'Gilgit-Baltistan', through aggression. We have repeatedly called on Pakistan to vacate these occupied territories."

"Motivated attempts to weaken our national resolve will never succeed," it added.

Last year, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released its first-ever report on Kashmir and in an update of that report it claimed on Monday that "neither India nor Pakistan have taken any concrete steps to address the numerous concerns raised".

The update seems to be a contrived effort to create an artificial parity between the world's largest and the most vibrant democracy and a country that openly practices state-sponsored terrorism," Kumar said. "We have registered our strong protest regarding the update with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.