Thursday, Oct 17, 2024 08:15 [IST]
Last Update: Thursday, Oct 17, 2024 02:43 [IST]
UNITED NATIONS, (IANS): In a stinging retort to
Pakistan, India has said that because of its commitment to sham elections,
Islamabad is disappointed that the people of Kashmir freely exercised their
right to vote and elected their leaders.
“Sham
elections, incarceration of Opposition leaders, and suppression of political
voices are what Pakistan is familiar with. It is natural that Pakistan must be
disappointed to see real democracy at work,” Eldos Mathew Punnoose, a
counsellor at India’s United Nations Mission said on Monday.
“Given
their tainted democratic record, Pakistan considers real democratic exercises
as a sham, as reflected in their statement,” he said responding to remarks by
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Munir Akram at the General Assembly’s
Special Political and Decolonisation Committee.
“It
was only last week that election results were announced in Jammu and Kashmir.
Millions of voters in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have spoken,”
Punoose said.
“They
exercised their right to vote and have chosen their leadership according to the
Constitutional framework and universal adult suffrage,” he said. “Clearly,
these terms must be alien to Pakistan."
In
the first elections held after the 2019 rescindment of Kashmir’s special
status, more than six million voters turned up to cast their ballots in Kashmir
and elected the opposition coalition of the National Conference and the
Congress Party, and dealt a defeat to the Bharatiya Janata Party in power at
the Centre.
Earlier
speaking at the debate on decolonisation at the panel, which is also known as
the Fourth Committee, Akram called the election a “sham”.
Punoose
told Pakistan to instead "stop the grave and ongoing human rights
violations in Pakistan occupied Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh (PoJKL).”
“The
world is witness to the divisive activities that Pakistan tries to undertake
day in and day out,” he said.
Punoose
said, “It is ironic that a country which is infamous across the globe for
state-sponsored terrorism and transnational crimes cast aspersions on the
world’s largest democracy.”
“It
has been Pakistan’s consistent state policy to employ cross-border terrorism as
a weapon against its neighbours,” he said.
“The
list of attacks orchestrated by Pakistan is indeed long. In India, they have
targeted our Parliament, market places and pilgrimage routes, among several
others. Normal Indian citizens have been victims of such dastardly and inhumane
acts by Pakistan,” he said.
“India
symbolises pluralism, diversity, and democracy. In contrast, Pakistan reminds
the world of terrorism, parochialism, and persecution,” Punoose said.
“Religious
and ethnic minorities and their places of worship are targeted and vandalised
on a regular basis,” he said.
Therefore,
"it is important for Pakistan to first look inwards and set own house in
order instead of meddling in the internal affairs of neighbouring countries,”
he added.
When
Pakistan held its national elections in February, opposition leader and former
Prime Minister Imran Khan and several of his supporters were in prison and
prevented from contesting.
Restrictions
on the opposition hampered their ability to campaign.
The
elections held under the control of the military were marred by violence and
the cell phone services were cut to prevent voter mobilisation.