Envoys of several Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries expressed solidarity with the people of Indian held Kashmir at a meeting organised at UN headquarters by Pakistan’s Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi on Monday. Briefing OIC Ambassadors on the current state of human rights in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Ambassador Lodhi said the plight of the long-suffering Kashmiri people has been brought into fresh spotlight by the 14 June report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ziad Ra’ad Al-Hussein, according to a press release issued by Pakistan Mission to the UN. According to a press release issued by Pakistani mission to UN, the OIC Ambassadors reiterated their support to the legitimate cause of the Kashmir people and expressed their readiness to work with Pakistan in implementation of the report. The high level meeting was purportedly attended by Ambassadors and Deputy Permanent Representatives of Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Niger, Turkey, Iran, Algeria, Somalia, Sudan and the representative of the OIC to the UN. The representatives of member states also affirmed that the Kashmir issue was a “bleeding wound” for the Ummah. The OIC member states, also reposed their full trust and satisfaction over the work of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir. They maintained that the Group has served as a voice of the Kashmiri people at the international level, and hoped that the forthcoming meeting of the Contact Group on the sidelines of the 73rd session of UN General Assembly would give further fillip to the collective efforts of the Ummah for the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiri people.
It is heartening to see that Ambassador Lodhi has been diligently raising the issue of Kashmir at international forum availing almost every opportunity to highlight the plight of Kashmiris through public diplomacy engagements/activities. After assuming her responsibilities Dr. Lodhi has also been hectically engaged in projecting the Kashmir issue at all available forums at the UN. One hopes that in the backdrop of UNHCR report on Kashmir Pakistan’s permanent mission to the UN will leave no stone unturned in exploiting this landmark report that has taken the lid off the cauldron of gory crimes the so-called security forces of India have committed against the defenseless and unarmed people of Jammu and Kashmir. As the authentic document provides substantial evidences against Indian state-terrorism and the Machiavellian machinations being applied by the Indian state to suppress the Kashmiris’ legitimate struggle for right to self-determination. It is also imperative that the OIC member countries must throw their full weight behind 14 June report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ziad Ra’ad Al-Hussein and his call for establishing a commission of inquiry to have an independent investigations into gross human rights violations inflicted upon the people of Kashmir. Expressing solidarity with subjugated masses of Kashmir is indeed an encouraging step but time has come that the OIC should move one step ahead as the worsening situation in Kashmir demands that the Muslim body should move beyond rhetoric and play its much needed rule to put an immediate end to bloodshed and violence in the region.