The rights commission of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) called on India on Sunday to let international investigators enter Kashmir and assess the humanitarian situation in the disputed region, Arab News reported. The OIC’s Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) made the appeal as its 12-member delegation completed a five-day visit to Pakistan to monitor the situation in Kashmir through the border as India denies entry to international fact-finding missions.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947 with both claiming the territory in full. The portion of the disputed region ruled by India has been plagued by violence, leaving tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead. IPHRC chairman Dr Saeed Mohamed Abdulla Al-Ghufli of the United Arab Emirates told Arab News the OIC is receiving many complaints over rights violations in the part of Kashmir controlled by India.
“We urge the Indian government to open the door for us and for all the international organizations to visit and see the situation of Jammu and Kashmir,” Al-Ghufli said. “Our purpose is to monitor the human rights (situation) and write our report and show the international community the violations of human rights which people of Jammu and Kashmir have been suffering for more than 70 years.” During the visit the IPHRC has interviewed many Kashmiris who crossed over to Pakistan from the Indian side of the region. On Saturday, the delegation visited the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides Pakistan’s Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and India’s Jammu and Kashmir.
