New York, 3 January 2023 (TDI): The Permanent Ambassador of Pakistan to the United Nations (UN), Munir Akram on Monday called on India for pursuing the Jewish nation’s model of demographic engineering in disputed Jammu and Kashmir.
The remarks came when India abstained from voting on a landmark UN resolution requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Israel’s prolonged occupation of Palestine.
The resolution is titled ‘Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem’. It was co-sponsored by Pakistan.
The resolution calls on the ICJ to determine the “legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination”. It also aims to change Jerusalem’s demographic composition, character, and status.
The resolution also requests that the UN Secretary-General presented a report on the resolution’s implementation at the next General Assembly session in September 2023.
The decolonization committee of the UN adopted the draught resolution. It asked the World Court to urgently weigh in on Israel’s “prolonged occupation of the Palestinian territory. Israel is infringing on the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.
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On the resolution, the 193-member Assembly voted 87 in favor, 26 against, and 53 abstained. The resolution divided Western nations, but it received unanimity from the Islamic world. Russia and China supported the resolution.
Israel, the United States (US), and 24 other members, including the United Kingdom and Germany, voted against the resolution. India and France were among the 53 nations that abstained.
Remarks by Munir Akram
Munir Akram described India’s decision to abstain from voting as “baseless” in an exclusive interview. In this vein, he added, “India’s abstention derives from its own policies of occupation in Jammu and Kashmir & usurpation of Kashmiri lands.”
“India denies itself the right to self-determination. This is the precise issue of Israeli occupation for which the General Assembly has requested an advisory opinion from the ICJ.” He continued.
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Munir further stressed that Israeli culpability in Palestine will also confirm India’s culpability in Indian Illegal Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
India’s abstention & Palestine’s opinion
Ambassador Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s permanent observer to the UN, praised the countries that voted in favor despite threats and pressure.
Along these lines, he added, “This vote comes one day after the new Israeli government was formed. The government pledges to accelerate colonial and racist policies against the Palestinian people.”
The abstention from India, which champions itself as a supporter of the Palestinian cause, was especially noted. It underlined India’s apprehensions about the implications of the referral of the issues of occupation to the ICJ.
It is pertinent to note that in August 2019, India revoked Article 35 A of the Indian Constitution. As part of the ethnic cleansing of the region’s indigenous Muslim residents, the government opened the floodgates to Israeli-style settlements in Jammu and Kashmir.
The result was a death blow to Kashmiri businesses. For the first time, non-Kashmiris received 70% of all mineral contracts in Kashmir.
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