LCCI urges govt to raise issue of human rights violations in Kashmir internationally

Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has strongly condemned continuous violation of human rights in Indian-held Kashmir and urged the government to forcefully raise the issue at every international forum.

LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad, Senior Vice President Almas Hyder and Vice President Nasir Saeed said that international community should not play the role of silent spectator on the issue as violation of human rights in Kashmir by India is creating unrest in the region, said a press release issued on Saturday.

They said that Indian forces are adding new chapters of brutality that is not tolerable at all, while the Kashmir issue should be resolved according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

While expressing concerns over the role of international community, LCCI office-bearers said that United Nations should take notice of the Indian aggression and intervene in the matter as any irresponsibility by the Indian side could give birth to a large scale human tragedy.

They said that brutal killing of innocent people in occupied Kashmir is not acceptable for the business community of Pakistan and it is standing shoulder to shoulder with its Kashmiri brothers.

They said that the use of force against innocent civilians protesting peacefully against extrajudicial killings was a blatant violation of the right to life, right to freedom of expression and opinion, right to peaceful protest, right to peaceful assembly among other basic rights.

The LCCI office-bearers said that India can no longer be in denial of these facts by terming the situation as its internal matter, a position that has no standing whatsoever, in view of the internationally recognised disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir. They said that Indian security forces are trampling the fundamental freedoms of the Kashmiri people with complete impunity.

“Pakistani business community will continue to extend its moral support for realisation of the right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir”, the LCCI office-bearers said.