Kashmir protests: Pakistan asks India to avoid ‘unwarranted aspersions’

Pakistan on Friday dismissed Indian criticism of protests in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, accusing New Delhi of deflecting attention from its own rights record in the disputed region and urging it to abide by international law and United Nations resolutions.

The response came after India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) described Pakistani forces’ handling of demonstrations in what it calls “Pakistan-occupied Kashmir” as “horrific,” saying it reflected Islamabad’s “oppressive approach” and “systematic plundering of resources” in the territory. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India had taken note of reports of violence against protesters and stressed that Pakistan must be held accountable for what he termed “horrific human rights violations.”

Rejecting these allegations, Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) said residents of "Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) freely enjoy their civil and political rights and actively participate in shaping their democratic future.” It emphasized that Pakistan is committed to safeguarding the dignity and rights of AJK’s people, including their right to peaceful assembly and protest.

“This commitment reflects not only our constitutional responsibility but also our enduring moral obligation to the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” the FO said in a statement.

Pakistan also contrasted the situation in Pakistan-administered Kashmir with what it described as the “grim reality” in Indian-administered Kashmir. The FO accused India of using brute force, restricting basic freedoms, and committing “systematic and grave human rights violations” to suppress the Kashmiri people’s struggle for self-determination.

“Efforts to silence dissent, demographic engineering, and the denial of civil liberties underscore the severity of the situation,” the FO said, adding that India must respect the Kashmiri people’s “inalienable right to self-determination” as outlined in UN Security Council resolutions.

Concluding its statement, Pakistan reiterated that “the path to lasting peace and stability in South Asia lies in the resolution of the Kashmir dispute” rather than, in its words, “casting unwarranted aspersions on AJK.”