‘Malicious propaganda’: India slams Pak on Art 370 abrogation statement, flags PoJK killings

Responding to Dar’s comments on Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “India categorically rejects the political absurdity and futile attempts by Pakistan to observe the so-called Youm-e-Istehsal to spread malicious propaganda against India. The Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are, have always been, and shall forever remain an integral and inalienable part of India.”

The MEA spokesperson said that the constitutional changes made on August 5, 2019, are “entirely an internal matter of India”. These decisions have brought unprecedented socio-economic development, good governance, and democratic empowerment to the people of the region, he said. “Pakistan has no locus standi to comment on matters that are strictly internal to India,” Jaiswal said.

“Pakistan’s desperate attempts to peddle falsehoods are intended solely to deflect international attention from its own dismal human rights record and its status as the global epicentre of terrorism. The international community is currently witnessing the brutal suppression of fundamental rights in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). Recent weeks have seen Pakistani security forces resort to lethal violence, targeted killings, and draconian bans to silence peaceful civil rights protests led by the local populace. Such state-sponsored violence against unarmed civilians exposes the profound hypocrisy of the Pakistani establishment,” he said.

“Instead of engaging in predictable diplomatic theatre, Pakistan would be well-advised to stop the bloodshed in PoJK, take credible, verifiable, and irreversible action against terror networks operating from its soil, and immediately vacate all Indian territories under its illegal and forcible occupation. The world is not fooled by these orchestrated spectacles,” Jaiswal said.

On Tuesday, India had upped the offensive on Pakistan over the elections in PoK, as it called them a “complete farce” and slammed the crackdown by Pakistan’s forces that had led to the killing of at least 90 civilians.