UNITED NATIONS, New York — India on Tuesday strongly rejected allegations raised by Pakistan at the United Nations, calling it “ironic” that a country “long associated with grave crimes against humanity” was leveling accusations against others.
Responding during a meeting of the preparatory committee for the UN Conference on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, External Affairs Ministry Additional Secretary Luther M Rangerji said Pakistan should first confront its own record of human rights abuses, particularly the treatment of minority communities.
“Pakistan should first address the systematic persecution of minorities including Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Ahmadiyya in its territories,” Rangerji said, reacting to claims made by Islamabad.
“The reality is that this delegation [of Pakistan] represents a geographical space long associated with grave crimes against humanity, which have endangered the lives of innocent people within their own borders,” he added.
Rangerji said the contradiction was clear, noting that “the irony is unmistakable: The very perpetrators of these acts continue to receive shelter and patronage” in Pakistan.
He also drew attention to what he described as the ongoing forced abduction, forced conversion, and forced marriages of women and girls from minority communities in Pakistan, alleging that those responsible operate with near-total impunity and immunity.
The exchange followed remarks made by Pakistan’s delegate at the committee meeting on Monday, where the Kashmir issue was raised and allegations were made against India. On Tuesday, after Rangerji addressed the committee and rejected those claims, Pakistan’s UN mission again exercised its right of reply, with First Secretary Zulifqar Ali launching a fresh attack on India.
That prompted Rangerji to take the floor once more, sharply criticizing Pakistan’s record and accusing it of supporting terrorism while deflecting attention from its own conduct.
Pakistan’s “unfounded and politically-motivated allegations reflect its continued misuse of all available multilateral platforms to divert attention from its own grave human rights violations and distract member states from its long-standing record of sponsoring cross-border terrorism,” he said.
Rangerji noted that Pakistan raises the Kashmir issue at nearly every UN meeting, regardless of the agenda.
Addressing the claims directly, he said, “Let me state this unequivocally — the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral and inalienable part of India. The rules and legislations brought in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir are strictly internal affairs of India.”
“Pakistan would do well if they focus on addressing its internal human rights abuses, dismantling terrorist infrastructure operating from its soil and fulfilling its obligations under international law instead of peddling falsehoods,” Rangerji added.
The preparatory committee meeting is part of the process leading up to the UN Conference on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, scheduled for 2028, which aims to develop an international convention addressing such crimes. (Source: IANS)
