India slams Pakistan for persecuting Hindus, Sikhs and other minorities

India described Pakistan as an epicenter of terrorism and said no one deserves unsolicited lecture on human rights from Islamabad

India on Tuesday described Pakistan as an epicenter of terrorism and said no one deserves unsolicited lecture on human rights from Islamabad that has consistently persecuted its ethnic and religious minorities including Hindus, Sikhs and Christians Exercising the Right of Reply to the statements made by Pakistan at the 45th session of Human Rights Council (HRC) here, the Indian representative said that it has become habitual for Pakistan to malign India with false and fabricated narratives for its self-serving malicious purposes.

“Neither India nor others deserve this unsolicited lecture on human rights from a country that has consistently persecuted its ethnic and religious minorities, is an epicenter of terrorism, has the distinction of providing pensions to individuals on UN Sanctions list and has a Prime Minister who proudly admits training tens of thousands of terrorists to fight in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian diplomat said.

The diplomat said that it was not surprising that other relevant multilateral institutions have been raising serious concerns on Pakistan’s failure to stop terror financing and lack of effective actions against all terror entities in Pakistan. Highlighting the nefarious designs of Pakistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the diplomat said, “the mass influx of outsiders has whittled down the number of Kashmiris to an insignificant number in Pakistan occupied parts of Indian Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Laddakh…

Protest at Johnson’s residence against enforced disappearances in Baloch

The Free Balochistan Movement held a protest against Pakistan outside the official residence of UK PM Boris Johnson here on the occasion of International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances

The Free Balochistan Movement on Sunday held a protest against Pakistan outside the official residence of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson here on the occasion of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Several Baloch and other human rights activists joined the protest from different cities of the UK and expressed their support for the families of those who have been forcefully disappeared.

The protestors were carrying banners and raised slogans against Pakistan military’s atrocities against Baloch people. They demanded the immediate release of previously abducted Baloch people and stopping of more enforced disappearances.

They also urged the international community, including the UK, to stop supporting Pakistan as their support is allowing Pakistan to commit more crimes against humanity.The activists stated that thousands of innocent Baloch people have been arrested and later disappeared. Many of them have been killed in custody. They also strongly condemned the recent murder of Hayat Baloch, who was shot dead by Frontier Corps in front of his parents, in Turbat, Balochistan.

Several Baloch and other human rights activists joined the protest from different cities of the UK and expressed their support for the families of those who have been forcefully disappeared. The protestors were carrying banners and raised slogans against Pakistan military’s atrocities against Baloch people. They demanded the immediate release of previously abducted Baloch people and stopping of more enforced disappearances…Read More

Relief or start of a long battle? What ICJ’s Jadhav verdict means for India

The fact undeniably remains that we only have a judgment, not Jadhav. Govt must be congratulated for acting decisively, but diplomacy remains India’s best way to secure Jadhav’s release

The Kulbhushan Jadhav case isn’t the first run through an India-Pakistan contest has discovered its way to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The two have taken their issues to ICJ on in any event three past events. Be that as it may, this was the first occasion when that a conference was occurring under such open examination.

Wednesday’s ICJ judgment came after a conciliatory and legitimate procedure that kept going more than three years. The decision attested consular access to Jadhav, and made ready for an audit of his conviction by a Pakistan military court. While the judgment is without a doubt a noteworthy triumph for India, it is just the beginning of a more drawn out procedure in Pakistan courts, the result of which stays unsure.

Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav is an Indian Citizen in Pakistani guardianship since March 3, 2016. The conditions of his fear are questioned by the nations. As indicated by India, Jadhav was abducted from Iran, where he was working after his retirement from the Indian Navy, and was therefore moved to Pakistan and confined for cross examination. Pakistan has battled that Kulbhushan Jadhav was captured in Balochistan after wrongfully entering the Pakistani region. It has additionally battled that Jadhav was in control of an Indian international ID bearing the name Hussein Mubarak Patel right now of his capture. He was blamed for performing demonstrations of reconnaissance and psychological warfare for the benefit of India and condemned to death by a military court on 10 April 2017.

India moved toward the ICJ

Following capital punishment, India issued a sharp demarche to the Pakistani High Commissioner. On 8 May 2017, a month after the declaration of capital punishment, India established procedures at the ICJ. It affirmed “horrifying infringement” of Article 36 the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Article 36 entomb alia gives that ‘consular officials will reserve the option to visit a national of their state in jail, care or detainment, and to mastermind his legitimate portrayal….

Kulbhushan Jadhav case: Ahead of hearing, Pak says it’ll follow ICJ ruling

Indian national Jadhav, 48, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017

Latest News: Pakistan is committed to implementing the decision of the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, a senior Pakistani official said as the country’s delegation left for the Hague on Friday for the oral proceedings in the case that will commence at the world court from February 18.

Indian national Jadhav, 48, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. India moved the ICJ in May the same year against the verdict. A 10-member bench of the ICJ on May 18, 2017, had restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.

Pakistan’s Attorney General Anwar Mansoor would lead the Pakistani delegation at the ICJ while Director General South Asia Mohammad Faisal would lead the Foreign Office side, a senior official told Dawn.

The ICJ has set a timetable for the public hearing in the case from Febraury 18 to 21 in The Hague and Harish Salve, who represents India in the case, is expected to argue first on February 18. The English Queen’s Counsel Khawar Qureshi will make submissions on February 19 from Islamabad’s side. Then India will reply on February 20 while Islamabad will make its closing submissions on February 21, the daily said. It is expected that the ICJ’s decision may be delivered by the summer of 2019…

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Pakistan Elections 2018: Who’s contesting, and why India must closely watch

With the country gaining independence a day before India, why democracy in the country has largely remained a distant dream.

Voting for Pakistan general elections is underway on Wednesday. The elections mark the completion of its first ever decade of unbroken democracy. That means, since its independence, the nation has seen only two democratically elected governments completing full terms in office.

The first major player in the national election is Shahbaz Sharif, leading the incumbent party (PML-N) into the elections after his brother and former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, was disqualified from holding the elected office and the party leadership for life with his name appearing in Panama Papers.

ALSO READ : Voting begins in Pakistan; parties of Imran Khan, Sharif in tight race

The second major player is Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of assassinated Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. He is leading Pakistan People’s Party into the elections and is hoping to capitalize on the support his mother enjoyed.

The third major player is Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, leader of the Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI). He is considered to be posing a tough challenge to the incumbent PML-N. Imran believes that his tough stance against corruption would fetch him a majority in the elections.

CLICK HERE : Pakistan election 2018

Voting begins in Pakistan; parties of Imran Khan, Sharif in tight race

Pakistan votes amid claims democracy being stifled, military accused of favouring ex-cricketer Imran Khan

Pakistani voters in large numbers have started flocking outside polling stations across Pakistan to cast their vote in country’s 11th general election, according to DawnNewsTV.

The first vote was cast in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Charsadda.

While polling stations officially opened for voting at 8 am, enthusiastic citizens queued up outside their respective stations as early as 7 am. Results will start trickling in within hours of polls closing at 6 pm and the likely winner should be known by around 2 am on Thursday.

The knife-edge general election is pitting cricket hero Imran Khan against the party of jailed ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, with the prospect of neither winning a clear majority amid a looming currency crisis.

A decade after Pakistan was last ruled by a military government, the election has been plagued by allegations the powerful armed forces have been trying to tilt the race in Khan’s favour after falling out with the outgoing ruling party of Sharif, who was jailed on corruption charges this month.

Khan has emerged as a slight favourite in national polls, but the divisive race is likely to come down to Punjab, the country’s most populous province, where Sharif’s party has clung to its lead in recent surveys.

Whichever party wins, it will face a mounting and urgent in-tray, from the economic crisis to worsening relations with on-off ally the United States to deepening cross-country water shortages.

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