‘India blaming Pak to hide J&K rights violation’

Pakistan on Monday alleged India was misusing the Uri attack to deflect attention from the situation in the Indian-administrated Kashmir.

Sartaj Aziz, adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister on foreign affairs, said India’s claims of Pakistan’s involvement in Sunday’s attack were “baseless” and “irresponsible”.

“It is a blatant attempt on India’s part to deflect attention from the fast deteriorating humanitarian and human rights situation in Indian Kashmir since the death of Burhan Wani,” he said in a statement.

Mr Aziz said it needed to be understood that the situation in Kashmir was not of Pakistan’s making but a direct consequence of “illegal Indian occupation” and a “long history of atrocities” that has resulted in several deaths.

“Pakistan has noted with serious concern the recent spate of vitriolic and unsubstantiated statements emanating from Indian civil and military leadership in the aftermath of yesterday’s attack on Indian occupation forces in the Uri sector of Kashmir,” he added.

Taking a jibe at the Indian government, Mr Aziz said it was particularly deplorable that India chose to blame Pakistan for the incident before carrying out formal investigation.

“The statement is part of a pattern to mislead world opinion and cover up India’s reign of terror in Kashmir,” he said.

The adviser statement came a day after Pakistan strongly denied any role in Sunday’s attack on the Indian military base in the disputed Kashmir region as it put border guards on ‘high alert’ amid fears of potential military escalation between the two countries.

In a knee-jerk reaction to the attack on the brigade headquarters in Uri, India’s civil and military leaders squarely blamed Pakistan with media commentators calling for a military response.

Hours after the attack, India’s director-general of military operations (DGMO) lieutenant general Ranbir Singh contacted his Pakistan counterpart Major Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza through a hotline to claim that the attackers had infiltrated from Pakistan.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed the hotline contact but said General Mirza refuted the “unfounded and premature” Indian allegations and asked his Indian counterpart to share any actionable intelligence.

He made it clear that no infiltration was allowed from Pakistan’s side because ‘water tight’ arrangements were in place on both sides of the Line of Control and Working Boundary.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has written letters to the heads of government/state of the Permanent members of the UN Security Council - China, France, Russian Federation, UK and the US - regarding “grave human rights violations” in Kashmir. The letters emphasised the extremely negative implications of the “dire situation in Kashmir, on regional, as well as international peace and security,” the Foreign Office said on Monday. The Prime Minister has upon the permanent members of the Security Council to fulfil their responsibility with regard to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, which was “one of the oldest internationally recognized unresolved disputes on the agenda of the UN Security Council.” “Despite the passage of more than 68 years since the adoption of multiple resolutions, the people of Jammu and Kashmir still await the implementation of these resolutions which promised them the right to self-determination to be exercised through the holding of a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices,” read the letter. The Prime Minister said that the non resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was a constant source of tension and instability in the region and a threat to international peace and security. The Prime Minister also highlighted Pakistan’s commitment to peacefully resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the resolutions of the Security Council, said the foreign office.