Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday describing the situation in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and Palestine as a “huge injustice of history” said it was important for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and world to take steps to correct it.

The prime minister expressed these views while talking to a delegation of the OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), which led by its Chair Dr Saeed Al-Ghufli called on him.

He expressed grave concern about the egregious violations of human rights in IIOJK, which have assumed alarming proportions during the last two years. The prime minister shared his deep anguish over the hardships and suffering being endured by the people of the occupied territory, especially since 5 August 2019 when Indians took illegal and unilateral measures in IIOJK.

He added that the people of IIOJK, demanding their inalienable right to self-determination promised to them under numerous UN Security Council resolutions, were being brazenly brutalized, extra-judicially killed, injured, maimed, tortured and arbitrarily detained. The indiscriminate use of pellet guns had resulted in the mass blinding of Kashmiri youth. However, despite using every single tool of oppression, India had failed to break the will of the Kashmiri people, he added.

Dilating upon the Indian regime’s “Hindutva” ideology, the prime minister emphasised that Kashmiri Muslims were being targeted in order to suppress their demand for freedom from Indian occupation and repression. He underscored that Muslims in IIOJK were being denied their fundamental right to self-determination as well as freedom of religion or belief.

The Kashmiri Muslims risked losing their majority and distinct identity due to the demographic changes being effected in the occupied territory, which was in violation of the 4th Geneva Convention and tantamount to war crimes, he added.

The prime minister appreciated the work of IPHRC in highlighting India’s gross, systematic and widespread human rights abuses in IIOJK.

He recalled that, as an independent expert body, IPHRC’s views were based on facts and the grim realities existing on the ground. The people of IIOJK were thankful to the Commission for understanding their plight and bringing it to the attention of OIC and the international community, he added.

The prime minister underlined that the strong unified voice of OIC was a vital element in the advancement of Muslim causes. He reiterated the urgent need for the reversal of all illegal and unilateral steps taken by India on and after 5 August 2019 along with an immediate end to the human rights violations in IIOJK.

The prime minister also spoke about rising Islamophobia and stressed the need for the Muslim Ummah to make collective endeavours to counter this scourge.

The IPHRC delegation’s meeting with the Prime Minister assumed added significance as it coincided with the completion of two years of India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019.

The delegation’s presence in Pakistan on this day is a manifestation of its staunch support to the Kashmiris’ just cause.

The IPHRC delegation is on a visit to Islamabad and Azad Jammu and Kashmir in compliance with the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers’ mandate to assess the deteriorating human rights situation in IIOJK.

The Commission has established a Standing Mechanism for that purpose, which regularly monitors and reports on the dire state of human rights in IIOJK.