India's Right of Reply

Mr. President,

I am exercising India’s Right of Reply to the diatribe that we heard today morning from the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Mr. President,

This august Forum witnessed today a new low on its 75^th Anniversary. The leader of Pakistan today called for those who incite hate and violence to be outlawed. But, as he went on, we were left wondering, was he referring to himself?

This Hall heard the incessant rant of someone who had nothing to show for himself, who had no achievements to speak of, and no reasonable suggestion to offer to the world. Instead, we saw lies, misinformation, war mongering and malice spread through this Assembly. 

The words used today at this great Assembly by the leader of Pakistan demean the very essence of the United Nations. For a nation that is deeply buried in medievalism, it is understandable that the tenets of a modern civilized society such as peace, dialogue and diplomacy are farfetched. 

Allow me, Mr. President, to jog their minds a little about the stellar record of Pakistan:

This is the country that brought genocide to South Asia 39 years back when it killed its own people. This is also the country that is shameless enough not to offer a sincere apology for the horrors it perpetrated even after so many years.

This is the same country that provides pensions for dreaded and listed terrorists out of State funds. 

This is the same country that has the dubious distinction of hosting the largest number of terrorists proscribed by the United Nations. 

The leader whom we heard today, is the same person who referred to the terrorist Osama Bin Laden as a “Martyr” in his Parliament in July.

The same leader who spewed venom today, admitted in 2019 in public in the US that his country still has about 30,000-40,000 terrorists who have been trained by Pakistan and have fought in Afghanistan and in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

This is the country that has systematically cleansed its minorities including Hindus, Christians, Sikhs and others, through the abuse of its blasphemy laws and through forced religious conversions.

For someone who professes to be a champion of Islam, this is also a country that has encouraged killing of fellow Muslims merely because they belonged to a different sect, or to a different region in Pakistan, and through sponsoring terrorist attacks against its neighbours. 

The only crowning glory that this country has to show to the world for the last 70 years is terrorism, ethnic cleansing, majoritarian fundamentalism, and clandestine nuclear trade. 

Mr. President, 

Let me assert here loud and clear. The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral and inalienable part of India. The rules and legislations brought in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir are strictly internal affairs of India.  

The only dispute left in Kashmir relates to that part of Kashmir that is still under illegal occupation of Pakistan. We call upon Pakistan to vacate all those areas that it is in illegal occupation of. 

What should rather be on the agenda of the UN is Pakistan’s deep state and its unrelenting political and financial support to terrorist organizations and mercenaries which are a threat to global peace and security.  

The only way for Pakistan to become a normal country is to abjure its moral, financial and material support to terrorism, turn its attention to the problems faced by its own population including its minorities and stop misusing UN platforms to further its nefarious agenda. 

Thank You.