Grim human rights scene in Valley, says Mirwaiz Umar Farooq

Srinagar: Kashmir’s chief Muslim cleric and separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday urged United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to take a note of what he alleged is grim human rights situation in the Valley and send a team for an on-the-spot appraisal of the same.

While speaking to a rally outside Srinagar’s Grand Mosque, he said that he and the people of Kashmir have already welcomed the recent report on the human rights situation in J&K released by the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) “but now would like the UN to send a high level team for an on-the-spot inspection of the situation there.”

He alleged that there is a “rising graph” of human rights violations in Kashmir and that when the ‘Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), an alliance of separatist leaders including him, called candlelight vigils to highlight the situation, police swooped down on its leaders and activists.

Earlier, in his customary speech from the rostrum of the mosque, Mr Mirwaiz strongly denounced “scuttling of peaceful protest programmes” during the ‘human rights week’ called by the JRL, coinciding with the World Human Rights Day that is observed on December 10.

He also urged the Centre to realise the gravity of the situation and view Kashmir through the historical background of the dispute and respond positively to the engagement offer put forth by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.