India exercised its ‘Right to Reply’ to give a befitting reply to Pakistan and Turkey, who mentioned Jammu and Kashmir at the 55th Human Rights Council of the United Nations.
At the 55th Human Rights Council of the United Nations, India exercised its ‘Right to Reply’ for a staunch response to Turkey and Pakistan for the mention of Jammu and Kashmir on the platform. India’s First Secretary at the UN Human Rights Council, Anupama Singh, rejected Pakistan’s allegations, and mentioned the country’s own track records on human rights, describing it as “truly abysmal”. Turkey was warned, with Singh stating that Jammu and Kashmir is India’s “internal matter” and such “unsolicited comments” on the issue should be refrained from in the future.
In the reply to Pakistan, India highlighted three ‘reds’ that Anupama Singh described the neighbouring nation was “soaked in”.
“We cannot pay any further attention to a country that speaks while being soaked in red – the red of the bloodshed from the terrorism it sponsors around the world; the red of its debt-riddled national balance sheets; and the red of the shame of its own people feel for their government having failed to serve their actual interests,” she said.
India highlighted three points in its response to Pakistan’s mention of Jammu and Kashmir at the UN platform. The first one was that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are an “integral and inalienable part of India” and the constitutional measures taken by the Indian government to ensure “socio-economic development and good governance” in the Union territories are “matters internal to India”.
“Two, a country that has institutionalised the systemic persecution of its own minorities and has a truly abysmal human rights record, commenting on India which is demonstrably making great strides in achieving economic progress and social justice, is not merely ironical but perverse,” Anupama Singh pointed out.
She highlighted incidents of persecution against minorities, pointing out the August 2023 Jaranwala issue wherein 19 churches were gutted, and 89 Christian houses burnt down.
“A country that hosts and even celebrates UNSC-sanctioned terrorists, commenting on India, whose pluralistic ethos and democratic credentials are exemplars for the world, is a contrast for everyone to see,” Anupama Singh said in her speech.