UKPNP leader demands urgent intervention into PoJK's human rights concerns
Aug 30, 2024
Brussels [Belgium], August 30 : The President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of United Kashmir People's National Party (UKPNP), Jamil Maqsood, has raised serious concerns over the continuing human rights abuses in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
Jamil Maqsood highlighted an urgent need for the international human rights community to intervene in the matter and hold Pakistan accountable for the severe human rights violations in PoJK.
In his statement, Maqsood mentioned that Pakistani authorities in PoJK have been engaging in extraconstitutional and unlawful activities, particularly through its intelligence services and security forces.
According to Maqsood, these activities, include the misuse of blasphemy laws to suppress dissent and target activists who are critical of the state, leading to involuntary disappearances and illegal detentions.
UKPNP leader called on international organizations, including the United Nations Human Rights Council, and the European Parliament, to pay attention to these abuses in PoJK and to press for the release of detained activists.
Additionally, he also urged the diplomatic community in Islamabad to leverage their influence to ensure the protection of basic human rights in the region.
The statement by the UKPNP leader serves as a call for action from global leaders and institutions to address the ongoing human rights crisis in PoJK, where the local population is allegedly subjected to severe repression and denied fundamental freedoms.
In his appeal, Maqsood also emphasised the need for international scrutiny of the PoJK administration and demanded an intervention by world powers to prevent further violations of human rights to uphold the region's civil and political rights.
Notably, the UKPNP has on various occasions highlighted the human rights violations in the region. Previously the UKPNP had organized its two-day-long annual central convention in Kotli, highlighting several issues, including human rights violations, development challenges in the region, and the misuse of the territory for terrorists.
While addressing the general public at the convention, UKPNP leader Sajid Hussain stated, "The Pakistani administration has orchestrated several genocides. They are harming the Baloch community in Balochistan, the Pashtuns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the Sindhis in Sindh."
"They aimed to orchestrate a genocide in the region of PoJK. They had raised the demand for deploying the Frontier Corps (FC), Punjab Constabulary (PC), and Rangers. All this resulted in the death of three youngsters, and we will never let their sacrifice go in vain. There is only one way to achieve our goals, and that is through peaceful protest," he added.
He said that the people of these regions will continue to raise their voice for rights, equality, freedom and the establishment of democracy.
Sajid Hussain stated, "Under all conditions, we will continue our struggle in PoJK. We will keep raising our voices for our rights, for equality, freedom, and the establishment of democracy. Our struggle will continue to be peaceful and diplomatic. They have consistently tried to turn our recent protests violent, but they have not succeeded."
"We were not just protesting outside the UN or the UK Parliament; instead, we diversified our protests against the Pakistani administration to several other locations. We believe that harm inflicted on even one resident of PoJK is harm to the entire community," he added.