Pakistan Calls India's 'brutal' Oppression Of Kashmiris As 'worst Example' Of State Terrorism

UNITED NATIONS, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Oct, 2022 ) :A top Pakistani diplomat Monday called India's "brutal" oppression of the Kashmiri people as the "worst example" of state terrorism, which he said the global counter-terrorism efforts had failed to address.

"Terrorism must be defeated comprehensively, everywhere," Ambassador Munir Akram said in the UN General Assembly's Sixth (Legal) Committee's debate on Secretary-General report on measures to eliminate international terrorism.

Pakistan, he said, strongly condemns terrorism, including state terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations regardless of the motivation, while highlighting Islamabad's role in the fight against the scourge.

"The global counter-terrorism policies have failed to address state terrorism," the Pakistani envoy noted, adding, "The worst example of state terrorism is the brutal oppression of the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) to deny their recognized right to self-determination. " Ambassador Akram also underscored the need to address not only the symptoms but also the underlying causes of terrorism. "These include prolonged unresolved conflicts, foreign occupation and denial of the right to self-determination such as in Jammu and Kashmir and Palestine." India's state terrorism has intensified since August 5, 2019 when it took unilateral and illegal measures to impose what it calls a "Final Solution" to Jammu and Kashmir dispute, the Pakistani envoy said.

Today, he said, Pakistan is a victim of cross-border attacks by terrorists, including Security Council-listed terrorist groups, that are financed and organized by "hostile agencies" to disrupt the development of Western and Southern Pakistan.

"The international counter-terrorism efforts must address terrorism promoted by right wing extremist groups and extremist ideologies as agreed in the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy last year," Ambassador Akram said.

The supremacist Hindutva-inspired and Islamophobic RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), he said, was one of the world's oldest and largest fascist movements responsible for killing thousands of Muslims in pogroms and targeted killings across India. "The RSS should once again be designated as a terrorist organization as it was once including by the Security Council." Since 9/11, despite protestations to the contrary, he said, islam has been associated with terrorism, with the use of phrases like "jihadis", "Islamists", "radical Islam", leading to the increase in institutionalized discrimination and violence against Muslims and the rise of Islamophobia right-wing, extremist and fascist movements in several countries. "These extremists are responsible for the vast majority of terrorist and violent acts in Western countries." Ambassador Akram also indicated that Pakistan was in favour of a consensual definition of terrorism, which established a clear distinction between terrorism and the legitimate struggle for self-determination.

At the same time, he called for needs for reforming UN's counter-terrorism architecture to make it more transparent and equitable, including by making appropriate changes in the Security Council's sanctions regimes and by further strengthening the office and role of the Ombudsperson.