OIC to renew request for Kashmir visit

Islamabad: The visiting members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) Human Rights Commission regretted denial of permission by India to assess the situation in Kashmir, saying they would continue to refresh their request, officials here said.

The OIC reaction came in response to a "demand" by Pakistan-administered Kashmir's Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider that the commission visit Kashmir at the earliest to review the situation there, Dawn online reported.

"The only weapon being used by the struggling Kashmiris are stones, but in response they are being hit by bullets and pellets which have left hundreds dead and thousands wounded," Haider said.

Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) Chairman SK Kaggwa said his organisation had been mandated by the OIC to "objectively highlight human rights violations".

"We show our concern over molestation, rape, use of pellet guns and enforcement of draconian laws in Indian-occupation Kashmir," he said.

He said the IPHRC had placed a request to the Indian authorities in July last year to allow it to visit Kashmir, but the request was not granted notwithstanding several reminders.

"However, we will not give up and continue to press them to grant us permission to visit occupied Kashmir," he said.

Kaggwa said the OIC had always supported right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people and it stood for settlement of the long-standing dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.

Earlier, the delegation visited two camps of Kashmiri migrants on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, where they also interviewed more than 20 refugees about the situation that forced them to flee their homes across the divide