Army chief Bipin Rawat slams UN report on Kashmir, says it's motivated
New Delhi: Responding to the findings in the recent UN report that pointed out to violation of human rights by the security forces in conflict-torn Kashmir, Indian Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat said there was no need to be overly concerned as the rights record of the Indian Army is well-known.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday on the sidelines of an event, Gen. Rawat said: “I don’t think we should get too concer-ned with these reports. Some of these reports are motivated... I don’t think we need to speak about the human rights record of the Indian Army. It is well-known to the people of Kashmir and the international community.”
This is the UN’s first ever report on Kashmir. India has already lodged a protest with the UN, saying that the government is “deeply concerned that individual prejudices are being allowed to undermine the credibility of a UN institution”. The external affairs ministry had also said, “India rejects the report. It is fallacious, tendentious and motivated. We question the intent in bringing out such a report.”
On its part, the June 14 report, titled ‘Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Kashmir’, the office of the United Natio-ns High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) admits: “Without access to Kashmir on either side of the Line of Control, OHCHR has undertaken remote monitoring of the human rights situation”.