Pak will take Kashmir dispute with India to ICJ, says Qureshi

Pakistan said on Tuesday it would take its dispute with India over Kashmir to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), after New Delhi revoked the special status of its part of the region earlier this month.

Islamabad reacted with fury to that decision, cutting trade and transport links and expelling India’s ambassador.

“We have decided to take the Kashmir case to the International Court of Justice,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, told ARY News TV on Tuesday. “The decision was taken after considering all legal aspects.”

The case would centre on alleged human rights violations by India in Muslim-majority Kashmir, which both countries claim in full but rule in part, Qureshi said.

A decision by the court would advisory only. However, if both countries agreed before-hand, the ruling would become binding.

A spokesman for India’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. India denies committing human rights violations in Kashmir.

The White House said that US President Donald Trump talked to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday about the need to reduce tensions with India over Kashmir and avoid steps that might escalate the crisis.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman also had a telephonic conversation with Imran on the Kashmir situation.

The Monday night phone call comes a fortnight after Imran had called up the Saudi Crown Prince to inform him about India’s move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Both the leaders discussed a host of issues including the ongoing Kashmir crisis. Imran briefed the Saudi Prince about the situation in Kashmir, media reports said.

Meanwhile, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Masood Khan warned that a “full-fledged genocide” is underway in Kashmir after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government revoked the special status the valley was accorded under Article 370 of the Indian constitution.

He told reporters that people are being picked up and murdered, before being buried in unmarked graves.

“Women are being humiliated; almost 6,000 people have been picked up and put into jails and they will be detained for up to two years without being given any reason. All of these are key indicators of genocide in any region, and, because of the media shutdown, reports of these offences are not making it out of the valley.”

Khan said the intensity of Indian atrocities is such that international media — “which usually gives a one-sided account of what is happening in the valley” — have chosen to report on the plight of the Kashmiri people.

“I thank the international media for not choosing one-sided reporting this time. The meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Kashmir, which happened after a long gap of 50 years, is also a positive step. However, this is not the final step in the fight for the Kashmir cause; rather, it is the first step and we have to go a long way for our Kashmiri brethren.”

The AJK president said that the next step is for the UNSC to act upon a three-pronged agenda. This includes bringing an end to genocide in Kashmir; the reversal of India’s illegal attempt to merge Kashmir with itself; and giving Kashmiris the right to self-determination.

He said these three points are based on the UNSC’s own charter and the council is bound to address them even if no country raises the issue and added that the UNSC should now hold an open session on Kashmir.

Khan further warned that a humanitarian crisis is developing in Kashmir and people there are faced with shortages of food items and medicines.

“A humanitarian corridor should be established by non-governmental organisations from various countries to provide basic amenities to the people of Kashmir,” the AJK president proposed.

Earlier, the government specified to the micro-blogging site Twitter 200 accounts that were suspended in the past week apparently for posting about Kashmir.

Over the last one week, a large number of Pakistanis have taken to Twitter to report that accounts were being suspended after they posted in support of Kashmir. The claim came from journalists, activists, government officials and fans of the military tweeting in support of Kashmir freedom.

Tariq Butt / Agencies