New Delhi: Fishing in troubled waters, Pakistan on Friday mischievously sought to link the murder of senior Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari with his tweet on a UN high commission for human rights (UNHCHR) report on alleged human rights violation in in Kashmir that was released on Thursday. Trying to point fingers at India, Islamabad termed it a “terrible coincidence” and condescendingly asked New Delhi to “investigate”, adding that it raised “serious questions”.
In a tweet, Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said, “Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari's targeted killing within hours of his tweet on the OHCHR report on Jammu & Kashmir — terrible coincidence, raises serious questions — India should investigate and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice."
Senior Kashmiri journalist Mr. Bukhari had tweeted on Thursday, “First ever such report on HR violations in Kashmir”. On Thursday, in a huge jolt to India, United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein had said in Geneva that he would be “be urging the UN Human Rights Council to consider establishing a commission of inquiry to conduct a comprehensive independent international investigation into allegations of human rights violations in Kashmir”. His office (UN-HCHR) had also released a highly controversial 49-page report— claimed by it to be “the first ever issued by the UN on the human rights situation in Indian-Administered and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir” — that alleged “human rights violations and abuses on both sides of the Line of Control”, and “highlighted a situation of chronic impunity for violations committed by security forces”. A jubilant Pakistan, in its reaction on Thursday evening, had “welcomed the proposal” to “establish a commission of inquiry for international investigation into human rights violations” in Kashmir. Islamabad had however chosen to gloss over the fact that the report has also indicted the Pakistan Army for supporting militants at the LoC and has also criticised human rights violations in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
India had swiftly rejected the findings of the UNHCHR report on the situation in J&K and had lodged a protest, saying it was “fallacious, tendentious and motivated” and even “questioning the intent” behind it.
A furious New Delhi had said the report was a “selective compilation of largely unverified information”, that it was “overtly prejudiced”.
