Geneva: The United Nations today expressed concerns over the deprivation of a wide range of human rights of the people of Kashmir and urged the Indian authorities to unlock the situation and fully restore the rights that are currently being denied.
“We are extremely concerned that the population of Indian-Administered Kashmir continues to be deprived of a wide range of human rights and we urge the Indian authorities to unlock the situation and fully restore the rights that are currently being denied,” tweeted the official spokesperson of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the UN.
The UN statement comes at a time when 23 European Union (EU) MPs are visiting Kashmir to assess the situation in the Valley where restrictions have been imposed since the Modi government’s decision to end special status to J&K under Article 370 and split it into two union territories.
“We are extremely concerned that the population of Indian-Administered #Kashmir continues to be deprived of a wide range of human rights and we urge the Indian authorities to unlock the situation and fully restore the rights that are currently being denied,” — @UNHumanRights pic.twitter.com/GQYF6Jqroi
— UN Geneva (@UNGeneva) October 29, 2019
The team of EU MPs originally consisted of 27 members, however, four decided to refrain from visiting Kashmir and have returned to their respective countries, according to media reports.
This is the first high-level foreign delegation to visit Kashmir since August 5, when the government decided to abrogate Article 370 and revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.