On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Pakistan has expressed its solidarity with the victims in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) who have been brutally disabled by the use of pellet guns and torture inflicted by Indian occupation forces.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN Special Procedure Mandate Holders and the international media and civil society have condemned India for these atrocities being committed with full impunity in IIOJK.

According to the OHCHR Kashmir Report 2019, “1,253 people have been blinded by the metal pellets used by security forces from mid-2016 to the end of 2018” in IIOJK. The number of people, including women and children, blinded and disabled by the pellet guns in IIOJK has risen significantly since the publication of this report.

Amnesty International’s report, titled “Losing Sight in Kashmir: The Impact of Pellet-Firing Shotguns”, has given a pictorial illustration of Kashmiris, mostly women and children, who have been blinded by the use of pellet guns in IIOJK.

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities being observed today should serve as a stark reminder for the international community to act resolutely for stopping India from further blinding and maiming of people in IIOJK and preventing the occupied territory from becoming a cruel source of disabilities in the world.