July 18
The United Nations Human rights Council has refuted the allegations made by India and the Indian Media and stood by its Kashmir report- the first ever UN Human Rights report on Kashmir.
The Indian Authorities including the Indian Army chief had called the report “Politically motivated” and the Indian media ran constant stories against the report released by the United Nations on June 14.
The outgoing human rights chief had called for an international commission of inquiry into the allegations, but it wasn’t taken up during the last session which ended on July 6. Last week, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres had backed the human rights commissioner.
The UN has in its media briefing said that India dismissed the report “Untrue and motivated” without even examining it.
The body also termed the allegations of the report being influenced by Canada based Pakistani Imam- Zafar Bangash as baseless and “untrue.”
Addressing the Media over the report the UN said that the UN Human Rights Office has a global mandate and works independently, with a well-established methodology, in its public reporting.
The UNHRC also criticised the Indian media for believing a Canada-based imam of Pakistani descent, who claimed that Hussein had been in contact with him while the report was being prepared, “with the inference being that Zafar Bangash influenced the content of the report”.
“Ultimately, our goal in drafting this report was to assist the States and others to identify and address human rights challenges and to give a voice to all Kashmiris who have been rendered voiceless amid the deep political polarisation,” the UN said.