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New Delhi, Aug 23 (IANS) Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Lone has written an open letter to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, appreciating his recent efforts to secure an FIR for a pellet injury in Delhi while sharply questioning the absence of similar concern for Kashmiri victims of pellet firing over the years.

In the letter addressed to Gandhi, Lone expressed heartfelt appreciation for the Leader of the Opposition’s intervention that led to the registration of an FIR after a young protester allegedly sustained pellet injuries during a demonstration in the national capital.

“Thankfully the injury inflicted in Delhi was minor,” Lone noted. He then contrasted this with the far graver toll in Kashmir. Lone recalled that between 2016 and 2017, the then Jammu and Kashmir government reported 6,221 people injured by pellet firing, including 782 with eye injuries. Hundreds lost their eyesight permanently, and thousands suffered lifelong disabilities. Pellets were first used during the 2010 unrest, “resulting in dozens of blindings” and hundreds of severe injuries.

“My question is: Why was the same concern not shown for those Kashmiris who were blinded or grievously injured? Are Kashmiris less human than others in this country?” Lone asked. He urged Gandhi to visit Kashmir, speak about the issue, and even attempt to register an FIR to draw attention to the forgotten victims.

Lone pointed out that the National Conference and PDP, which were in alliance with national parties during the 2010 and 2016 pellet incidents and controlled the Home Department, have never issued an apology. Both parties are currently part of the INDIA bloc.

“Please do not attribute any motives. My hand on my heart, I really want you to do well,” he wrote, adding that the people of Kashmir deserve the same concern shown in Delhi.

Lone concluded by calling for equal application of the law, “The Kashmiris are not lesser human beings. Let law be the same for all. Let there be no space for selective justice and let us not allow our own people to be tyrannised.”

–IANS

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New Delhi, Sep 23 (IANS) India on Wednesday rejected the references made about the country in the Joint Communique of the OIC’s so-called Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir, terming them “unwarranted and factually incorrect” and said that the grouping has no locus standi to pronounce on its internal matters.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are an “integral and inalienable” part of India, and “no amount of repetition of politically motivated propaganda can change this reality”.

On references to India in the Joint Communique, it said: “India categorically rejects the unwarranted and factually incorrect references to India in the Joint Communique of the so-called OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir. The OIC has no locus standi to pronounce on matters that are strictly internal to India.”

“The entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral and inalienable part of India, and no amount of repetition of politically motivated propaganda can change this reality. Repeated endorsement of such motivated narratives only raises serious questions on the credibility of OIC,” it added.

The MEA advised OIC to counsel Pakistan, which has a “well-documented record of supporting and sponsoring terrorism” to address the continuing threat of terrorism emanating from territories under its control.

“Instead of offering a platform to Pakistan to peddle its fabricated and motivated propaganda, OIC will be better advised to counsel Pakistan, which has a well-documented record of supporting and sponsoring terrorism, to look inwards and address the continuing threat of terrorism emanating from territories under its control,” the MEA statement said.

In June, India firmly rejected “baseless and malicious allegations” by Pakistan, while dismissing references to the Jammu and Kashmir made by the OIC, reiterating that the region remains an “integral and inalienable” part of the country.

At the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council, First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations, Anupama Singh said: “India is compelled to exercise its right of reply in response to the references made to it by Pakistan and the OIC. We categorically reject the baseless and malicious allegations made by Pakistan. We also categorically reject the references to J&K made by the OIC. Pakistan’s propaganda is designed to mask its domestic failures and support for terrorism. Its misuse of the OIC coordinator’s role only reinforces deception. We have no desire to dignify such propaganda.”

“However, we would like to make a few points. For the record, Jammu and Kashmir was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India. The only unresolved issue is Pakistan’s illegal occupation of Indian territories and their return. Pakistan’s propaganda cannot obscure the reality of repression in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” she added.

Singh said that the unrest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) was the inevitable consequence of decades of repression, military control, and the denial of fundamental rights, asserting that an “illegal and illegitimate occupation” could only be sustained through force. Singh also accused Pakistan of pursuing terrorism as state policy while simultaneously portraying itself as a victim of terrorism.

“This is the country where the sitting Defence Minister boasts of hosting, training, and deploying terrorists as state policy, and yet Pakistan calls itself a victim of terrorism. Indeed, a paradox which only Pakistan could sustain. It is a living example of a Frankenstein state which is shocked when its own monster bites back,” she stated,

–IANS

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