OIC condemns ‘recent wave of Indian terrorism’ in Kashmir despite Indian presence

[CricketCartoons]

Are you talking about the guy who got a journalist chopped up?

Where is the proof that he ordered the killing? Like a responsible leader he only took responsibility for the assassination as it happened under his watch. Takes courage to admit that buck stops at him.

 

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ISLAMABAD: Amid conflicting reports whether the Kash*mir issue was on the agenda of an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s meeting in Niger, the foreign ministers of the OIC’s member states in a diplomatic victory for Pakistan unanimously reaffirmed support for the Kashmir cause.

In another landmark development, the OIC unanimously adopted a Pakistan-sponsored resolution urging the UN Secretary General to initiate a global dialogue to counter rising Islamophobia and promote interfaith harmony.

On the bilateral level, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who led Pakistan delegation at the 47th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Niamey, Niger, raised the issue of the ban on visas for Pakistanis recently imposed by the United Arab Emirates with the UAE’s Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al Hashimi.

According to details of the Niamey meeting released by Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Saturday, the CFM reaffirmed its strong support for the Kashmir cause. The OIC categorically rejected illegal and unilateral actions taken by India on Aug 5 last year to change the internationally recognised disputed status of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jam*mu and Kashmir and demanded India rescind its illegal steps.

It asked India to cancel the issuance of domicile certificates to non-Kashmiris as well as other unilateral and illegal actions, including Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Order, 2020; Jammu & Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate Rules, 2020; Jammu and Kashmir Language, Bill 2020 and amendments to the landownership laws.

Also rejecting policies being pursued by the RSS-BJP regime, the 57 member countries of the OIC asked India to refrain from taking any steps to alter the demographic structure of the disputed territory.

The OIC foreign ministers condemned in the strongest possible terms human rights violations perpetrated by Indian occupation forces in held Kashmir and other such instances of terrorism that have been the source of unspeakable suffering for the innocent Kashmiri people.

The resolution condemned the state-sponsored terrorism and crimes against humanity by Indian occupation forces against the Kashmiri people.

It denounced extrajudicial killings during fake ‘encounters’ and ‘search-and-cordon’ operations and demolition of houses and private properties as a form of collective punishment;.

The unanimous resolution condemned the renewed use of pellet guns by Indian occupation forces against innocent civilians, condemned the harassment of Kashmiri women by Indian troops and deplored that India had callously exploited the current Covid-19 crisis to intensify its military crackdown and further advance its unlawful occupation.

The conference welcomed the visit of OIC Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir from March 2-6, 2020.

India was asked to adhere to its international human rights obligations and allow the OIC Special Representative on Jammu and Kashmir and the OIC Fact-finding Mission to visit occupied Kashmir and implement recommendations of the two reports of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Jammu & Kashmir.

The OIC asked the international community to review its engagements with India as it was violating and disregarding the international law, the international humanitarian law, and international resolutions.

It emphasised that the question of Kashmir was of utmost importance for the Ummah.

The OIC recognised that Jammu and Kashmir is the core dispute between Pakistan and India, and its resolution indispensable for realisation of the dream of peace in South Asia.

The CFM noted that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are the principal party to the dispute, and stressed that they should be included in any peace process for resolution of the dispute.

It affirmed that any political or electoral process held under foreign occupation cannot be a substitute to the exercise of the right to self-determination.

Tabled during the 47th session of the CFM, a separate resolution was drafted in the context of growing incidents of Islamophobia in various parts of the world.

The resolution expressed concern that Islamophobia, as a contemporary form of racism and religious discrimination, was on the rise. It expressed deep concern at the recent incidents of desecration of the Holy Quran and reprinting of blasphemous caricatures which hurt sentiments of more than 1.8 billion Muslims around the world.

The OIC decided to designate March 15 as the “International Day to Combat Islamophobia” each year. It authorised the OIC Permanent Missions in New York to jointly table a resolution in the UN General Assembly, calling for establishment of this day.

The resolution urged the OIC member states to organise and support various high-visibility events aimed at effectively increasing awareness at all levels about curbing Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred.

Speaking on the session, Foreign Qureshi said that adoption of the resolution was a reflection of the sentiments of billions of Muslims who respected other religions and expected similar respect for Islam and the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Meanwhile, positively responding to Pakistan’s offer, the CFM meeting decided to host its 48th session in Islamabad in 2021.

As the prospective CFM Chair, Pakistan also became a member of the six-member OIC Executive Committee for the next three years.

Meetings with FMs

Foreign Minister Qureshi in his meeting with United Arab Emirates’ Minister of State Reem Al Hashimi raised the issue of the ban imposed by the Arab country on Pakistanis.

Mr Qureshi, who spent a busy day in Niamey, holding meetings with foreign ministers of some countries, apprised Ms Hashimi of difficulties being faced by Pakistani citizens with regard to the UAE’s ban on visas.

Pakistan is among 13 Muslim majority countries facing the ban on new employment and visit visas recently placed by the UAE.

Interestingly, India is not included in these countries, and the visa on arrival facility is still available for European countries making it clear that the ban has little to do with the coronavirus.

Mr Qureshi underscored the need to address the issue at the earliest possible.

He highlighted the close fraternal ties as well as people-to-people contacts between the two countries and stressed Pakistan’s commitment to forge closer cooperation with the UAE in diverse fields.

While appreciating Mr Qureshi’s statement at the CFM session, the Emirati minister lauded Pakistan’s initiative to propose an OIC resolution on combating Islamophobia.

The two sides also exchanged views on OIC matters and stressed the importance of strengthening it as a united and pivotal platform for the Ummah.

It was also agreed to enhance mutual exchanges to carry forward the process of growing bilateral cooperation.

Mr Qureshi also held meetings with Foreign Minister Kalla Ankouraou of Niger, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Somalia Balal Mohamed Osman, Sudanese Foreign Minister Omar Qamaruddin Ismail and Foreign Minister of Kuwait Dr Ahmad Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2020

 

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Pakistan and India have traded barbs over a “unanimous resolution” passed by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that criticised New Delhi’s decision to strip Indian-administered Kashmir of its special status last August.

The OIC resolution, a copy of which Al Jazeera has obtained, rejected India’s Kashmir decision and demanded that “India rescind its illegal step”.

[The OIC] rejects the illegal and unilateral actions by India on August 5, 2019, to change the internationally recognised disputed status of the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and demands that India rescind its illegal steps,” said the resolution passed during a session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the OIC held in Nigerien capital Niamey.

Last August India stripped the Himalayan region’s limited autonomy and brought it under the direct rule of New Delhi. Since then it has passed and amended a number of laws that Kashmiris fear are aimed at bringing demographic change in the Muslim-majority region.
Kashmir is claimed by both India and Pakistan but each governs only parts of the disputed territory, where anti-India sentiment runs deep.

India has deployed more than half a million forces in Kashmir – home to 12 million people – making it one of the most militarised zones in the world. New Delhi says its troops are stationed to quell the armed rebellion, which erupted in 1989.

“The statement is indication of the fact that OIC, irrespective of what was claimed by some media channels, remains committed to its basic stance on Kashmir,” Sheikh Showkat, political commentator and professor of law at Central University Kashmir, said.

“Apart from two countries (Saudi Arabia and UAE) with which India has developed good relations, most of the OIC countries remain committed to Kashmir cause.”

India on Sunday rejected the resolution by the 57-member grouping of Muslim nations, saying “the OIC has no locus standi (rights) in matters strictly internal to India”.

“We strongly and categorically reject the factually incorrect, gratuitous and unwarranted references to India in resolutions” adopted by the OIC …,” India’s ministry of external affairs (MEA) said.

“We have always maintained that OIC has no locus standi in matters strictly internal to India including that of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir which is an integral and inalienable part of India,” it said.

But Pakistan’s foreign office late on Monday rejected “the untenable statement by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)”, saying the OIC was the second-largest international organisation after the United Nations.

“Rather than dismissing the international community’s concerns as reflected in the OIC Resolution, India would be well-advised to pay heed and stop its state-terrorism in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK),” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement released late on Monday.

“The OIC Resolution is further proof that India can neither hide its gross and systemic violations of human rights of the Kashmiri people and the denial of their inalienable right to self-determination nor can it escape international censure of its egregious behaviour.”

The OIC, however, has not made the resolution public either on its website or on its Twitter handle. But a source which shared the copy of the resolution said it would be released soon. Al Jazeera reached out to the OIC but did not receive its response by the time of publication of this article.

The resolution, which also condemned India for use of live fire and pellet guns against civilians, attracted sharp reaction from New Delhi, which criticised Islamabad without naming its western neighbour.

“It is regrettable that OIC continues to allow itself to be used by a certain country, which has an abominable record on religious tolerance, radicalism and persecution of minorities, to indulge in anti-India propaganda,” the MEA said.

Former Indian diplomat Talmiz Ahmad said that “the OIC is a thoroughly discredited body and it has no standing whatsoever in the global community”.

“There has not been a single occasion in the last 30 years when the various meetings of the OIC have not issued such statements. This reflects the way the OIC functions and has nothing to do with the opinion of the Muslim community or of the countries that are participating in them,” Ahmad, who has served as India’s ambassador to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman, said.

New Delhi and Islamabad have accused each other of plotting attacks on their respective soils. Last week, the two countries submitted dossiers to the UN alleging each other of plotting “terrorism”.

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/...solution-on-kashmir?__twitter_impression=true

 

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Continuous monitoring and a balanced approach will ensure the protection of the human rights of Muslim communities, which is the “shared responsibility” of the Muslim nations, experts said on Wednesday.

“Protecting rights and identities of (vulnerable) Muslim communities need a very balanced approach so that their religious and cultural rights and dignity is preserved,” said El Habib Bourane, director of Muslim Communities and Minorities of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Addressing a two-day international conference to discuss human rights violations faced by Muslims, he also stressed that Muslim communities need to make positive contributions to their living countries.

The conference in Istanbul has been organized by Turkiye’s justice and foreign ministries and the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of the OIC.

Urging Turkiye and the OIC to step up pressure on the Myanmar regime, Reza Uddin, chairman of the Human Rights Committee and Council Member of the Arakan Rohingya Union, said the military junta of the Buddhist-majority country had stepped up violations against the Rohingya.

“(We) must step up pressure on Myanmar, by all means, to permanently stop the genocidal acts and crimes against Rohingya people,” Reza said.

The OIC official Bourane said the human rights situation of over 1million Rohingya refugees “continues to deteriorate”.

“Myanmar must fully comply with the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice,” he said, referring to the case of genocide brought against Myanmar by the Gambia at the UN court.

Atrocities faced by Rohingya

Shabbir Ahmad Chowdhary, a Bangladeshi diplomat, said the atrocities faced by the Rohingya Muslims in their homeland are “unprecedented”.

“Bangladesh extended her hand of humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya when they were brutally persecuted in their homeland and fleeing to save their lives,” he said.

Bangladesh, he said, “calls on the international community to come together to ensure the safe and dignified return of the Rohingya to Myanmar.”

Global Kashmiri activist Ghulam Nabi Fai asked the OIC to initiate a joint resolution at the Human Rights Council “to set up an inquiry commission on human rights violations” in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) at the UN’s human rights body in Geneva, which is scheduled to meet from Feb. 28 to April 1.

Fai urged the OIC to persuade India to release all political prisoners unconditionally, including Khurram Parvez, Yasin Malik, Shabir Shah, Masarat Alam, and Aasiya Andrabi.

“The OIC must convince the UN to persuade India to rescind the domicile law which is designed to change the demography of Kashmir,” he said, adding the policymakers of OIC member countries “will look to solving the root cause of the problem of Kashmir – the unfulfilled promise of self-determination as guaranteed by successive UN Security Council resolutions.”

Zamir Akram, a Pakistani expert on multilateralism and former UN diplomat, said the world was witnessing the “largest single most and gravest rights violations happening in India”.

“Hindutva fascism has put at stake lives of 200 million Muslims,” he alleged, referring to warnings issued on impending genocide in India by US-based Genocide Watch – an international watchdog on human rights violations.

“The Indian state, police, in particular, has been co-opted in this process of victimization and vandalization in violence against Muslims,” he said.

Indian Muslims face challenges

The OIC official Bourane said Indian Muslims were facing “major and complex challenges.”

“There are calls for anti-Muslim violence, and (such a phenomenon) is moving from fringes to the mainstream,” he explained, pointing to a ban on wearing headwear by Muslim girl students in India who have denied basic education to them.

Also read: India's hijab dispute reaches its most populous state

“Anti-Muslim rhetoric is taken into the mainstream (in order) to reshape India into Hindu Rashtra (state),” he said.

“There is a high risk these incidents may lead to further communal tensions, perhaps to widespread violence,” he warned.

Earlier, in response to OIC taking note of hate speeches and the ban on wearing headwear by Muslim girl students, India described it as an “interference in its internal affairs”.

In a statement, the Indian Foreign Ministry said issues in India are considered and resolved in accordance with constitutional framework and mechanisms, as well as democratic ethos and polity.

OIC must widen scope of engagement

Hassan A. Abdein, a UK-based journalist, said the OIC and the IPHRC “should bring back international cooperation” to tackle challenges like Islamophobia.

The OIC has been successful in generating global consensus on several issues in the recent past, he said, adding: “Now is the time to forge new partnership and pursue human rights.”

Pointing to Pakistan taking leadership of the OIC in the coming March, he said the Muslim bloc should hold many events and activities to widen the scope of engagement.

“We must be committed to upholding human rights of Muslims everywhere and anywhere in the world,” he said, stressing in any conversation “victims must be part of the dialogue and negotiations”.

Aydin Safikhanli, an IPHRC member from Azerbaijan, said Muslims “should use all international, UN and regional mechanisms” to solve their issues.

“To solve the problems, we must work together and work closely with international and regional mechanisms,” he said.

Ambassador Tasmin Aslam of Pakistan called for “actionable steps” rather than “just statements and resolutions.”

Suggesting raising the cost for states persecuting Muslims by way of boycott, she said: “57 Muslim countries have sufficient strength to influence policies of these countries.”