Speakers Voiced Grave Concern Over Indian Government’s Settler-colonial Policies Aimed At Altering Kashmir

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Sep, 2025) Speakers at a seminar jointly hosted by the Community Human Rights and Advocacy Centre (CHRAC) and the Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR) voiced grave concern over the Indian government’s settler-colonial policies aimed at altering the demography of Jammu and Kashmir — a disputed region that has remained in the vortex of violence for decades.

Held on the sidelines of the 60th session of the UNHRC, the seminar was attended and addressed by international law experts, academicians, and rights activists from different parts of the world, including Dr. Muzmil Ayub Thakur, Advocate Parvez Shah, Tahreem Bukhari, Dr. Shugufta Ashraf, Syed Ali Raza, Mirza Asif Jarral, and others.

The event was moderated by Dr. Raja Sajjad Khan, according to a press release received here from Geneva.

Distinguished panelists noted that demographic change has emerged as a critical driver of global stability. However, in the case of Kashmir, the systematic demographic engineering pursued by the Indian state has not only fueled political instability but also led to the annihilation and marginalization of the indigenous population, pushing it to the edge under settler-colonial policies.

They said that the redefinition of the state’s age-old domicile law has been used by India as a conduit to enforce demographic change in the Muslim-majority region by settling non-state subjects in the territory.

Alongside massive political and administrative machinations, the speakers highlighted that demographic engineering through settlement policies and disenfranchisement has undermined the region’s cultural identity as well as its political autonomy.

Such practices, they warned, not only threaten peace and human rights but also violate international norms and risk fueling long-term instability — not only within Kashmir but across South Asia.

The panelists emphasized that addressing these concerns requires urgent international attention to ensure that demographic shifts are not weaponized as tools of domination but are instead guided by respect for peoples’ rights, dignity, and regional harmony.

The speakers urged the UN Human Rights Council to take cognizance of the situation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJ&K) territory and hold Indian government accountable.

"Altering the demography of a disputed territory constitutes a violation of the UN Charter, which strictly prohibits an occupying power from manipulating the demographic composition of the region under its control," the speakers remarked.