India said that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the country. (File)
Highlights
- UN human rights body criticises India, Pakistan on Kashmir
- Alleges excessive use of force, serious human rights violations
- India says report is "false, with a motivated narrative"
India has reacted strongly to and lodged a diplomatic protest over a new report by the UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights on Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian government has called the report "false, with a motivated narrative". The report, a follow up to one the UN rights office filed last year, once again very controversially 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 accused the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 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."
"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 said in a statement.
The UN Commissioner's report said 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".
India said "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," New Delhi said.
Last year in June, a furious India had described as "fallacious, tendentious and motivated" the UN report that tore into both India and Pakistan for human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
In the report, the first of its kind on Kashmir, the UN body had laid out recommendations for both countries and asked for an investigation into "all civilian killings since July 2016" and also into "the excessive use of force by security forces including serious injuries caused by the use of pellet guns immediately."