By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – India Revolutionary Socialist Party MP from Kerala, N K Premachandran on Tuesday told the General Assembly committee that deals with decolonization called Pakistan “the fountainhead of terror, violence, bigotry, intolerance, and extremism.”
India demanded that it end stop the “grave and ongoing human rights violations” in the part of Kashmir it has illegally occupied.
“Pakistan is the fountainhead of terror, violence, bigotry, intolerance and extremism”, N K Premachandran, the Revolutionary Socialist Party MP from Kerala, told the General Assembly committee that deals with decolonisation.
“As recently as April this year, terrorists trained and sponsored by Pakistan murdered 26 innocent civilians in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir”, he said.
He exposed Pakistan’s brutal repression in the part of Kashmir that it occupies in contravention of Security Council Resolution 47, adopted in April 1948.
“We call upon Pakistan to stop the grave and ongoing human rights violations in the areas illegally occupied by it, where the population is in open revolt against Pakistan’s military occupation, repression, brutality and illegal exploitation of resources.”, Premachandran said.
“In the last few weeks alone, the occupying Pakistani forces and their proxies have killed many innocent civilians who were agitating for their basic rights and freedoms”, he said.
He noted that over 12 people were killed by Pakistan forces who put down a protest against exploitation and Islamabad’s malfeasance.
Premachandran responded to comments made by Pakistan at the committee last week regarding India and Kashmir, despite the comments having no relevance to the work of the panel, known as the Fourth Committee, or the topics on the agenda.
“It is ironic that a country which is infamous across the globe for using terrorism as an instrument of state policy has attempted to cast aspersions on the world’s largest democracy”, he said.
“A country like Pakistan, with an established record of military dictatorships, sham elections, incarceration of popular elected leaders, religious extremism and state sponsored terrorism, should in future refrain from preaching homilies at this platform”, he said.
“Jammu and Kashmir is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India”, he declared emphatically.
Premachandran spoke about India’s record on decolonization as the “global champion and leading voice in the struggle against colonialism”.
India became its first chair since the establishment of the Decolonisation Committee, he said New Delhi “has been actively contributing towards its functioning”.
“The fight against colonisation has been arduous”, Premachandran said.
“Since the creation of the United Nations, more than 80 former colonies were able to break free from the shackles of colonialism and gain independence”.
“The process, however, remains unfinished”, he added.
According to the UN there are 17 countries or territories that are under the yoke of colonialism.
