OIC rejects Indian actions to bring demographic changes in Kashmir

ISLAMABAD (AA) – The Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) has rejected the issuance of fake domicile certificates to non-Kashmiris granting them voting rights by the Indian government in the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir.

A joint statement after a meeting of the foreign ministers of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir said they rejected the amendments to land ownership laws, and any other step to alter the existing demographic structure of the disputed territory, which are in contravention of the existing UNSC resolutions and in violation of the international humanitarian law, including the 4th Geneva Convention.

The foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, with the OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha in the chair, said a statement by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.

The Contact Group comprises Azerbaijan, Niger, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye.

The foreign ministers reaffirmed the inalienable right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the recognized OIC position and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

Recalling the statement issued by the UN secretary-general on Aug. 8, 2019, to affirm the position of the United Nations on the Jammu & Kashmir region governed by the UN Charter and applicable UN Security Council Resolutions, the top diplomats deplored that the Indian forces continue to perpetrate a vicious campaign of repressive actions, including “extrajudicial killings of innocent Kashmiris in fake encounters,” according to the statement.

“(OIC deplored) custodial killings and ‘cordon-and-search’ operations; the use of pellet guns to kill, maim and blind peaceful protesters; the abduction and enforced disappearance of 15,000 young Kashmiri boys; the incarceration of almost the entire Kashmiri leadership; and ‘collective punishments’ with the destruction and burning of entire villages and urban neighborhoods,” it said.

New Delhi scrapped the long-standing semi-autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir on Aug. 5, 2019, prompting Islamabad to halt trade with the longtime rival.

The foreign ministers also condemned the detention of Kashmiri leadership for the last three years, and denounced the “sham trial and conviction” of Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik, and called it an attempt by India to punish Kashmiri leaders seeking freedom even by peaceful means.

The foreign ministers demanded that the Indian government reverse all illegal and unilateral measures taken on or after Aug. 5, 2019, and stop the gross, systematic, and widespread human rights abuses in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir, said the statement.