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Pakistan’s prime minister says he has approached U.N. secretary general to stop Delhi’s attempts to alter demographics of India-held Kashmir
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday announced in a posting on Twitter that he had approached the United Nations secretary general, and was reaching out to other global leaders, to take note of India’s “illegal” actions in India-held Kashmir.
“I have approached U.N. secretary general and am reaching out to other world leaders. India must be stopped from this unacceptable path that further usurps the legal and internationally guaranteed rights of the Kashmiri people and seriously imperils peace and security in South Asia,” he said.
Pakistan has, since Aug. 5, 2019, repeatedly accused India of trying to alter the demographics of Jammu and Kashmir by boosting the Hindu population while making it more difficult for Muslims to continue living there.
Since Delhi abrogated the special constitutional status enjoyed by the disputed territory last year, it has initiated a series of measures that observers claim are targeting the Muslim population, including a new domicile law and an ongoing communications blockade that limits contact with Kashmiris from abroad.
In his posting, the prime minister said that India’s actions violated international law. “First India’s attempt at illegal annexation of IOJK [India-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir] and now its attempts to alter IOJK’s demographic structure including by issuance of domicile certificates to 25,000 Indian nationals are all illegal, in violation of UNSC resolutions and international law, including 4th Geneva Convention,” he said.
India has reportedly granted around 25,000 people with domicile certificates for the part of Kashmir under its control, raising fears it is attempting to transform the Muslim-majority region into a Hindu-majority one. Up till last year, such domiciles were only provided to local residents, but India has now permitted people who have lived in the region for 15 years to claim “citizenship” of the region. Possessors of the domicile are entitled to residency and government jobs in the region.