The Pakistan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Nafees Zakaria has reiterated Pakistan’s unequivocal support for the Kashmiris.

Addressing a virtual seminar on the theme of “Seeking Justice for Kashmiri Victims of Sexual Violence and Physical Torture and Widows” in London, he said over 12,000 young Kashmiris had been brutally injured by Indian forces using pellet guns since July 2016.

He said Kashmiri women have the distinction of being called Half-Widows.

Their husbands were taken away by the Indian forces several years ago and their whereabouts are unknown which adds to the trauma of these women.

The High Commissioner said sexual violence and rape have been used by Indian forces as a weapon to deter Kashmiris from pursuing their indigenous self-determination movement.

In his keynote address, AJK President, Sardar Masood Khan, said Modi government is committing war crimes in occupied Kashmir which the international community should take immediate notice of.

He informed that about 13,000 young Kashmiri boys have been taken away from their homes and are being kept in concentration camps in North India.

He said after the recent change in domicile law of Kashmir, as many as 25,000 non-Kashmiri Hindus have been given right to residence in Kashmir which would drastically change the demography of the region in complete violation of the UNSC resolutions.

Raising serious concerns over the gross human rights violations by the Indian forces, the British Parliamentarians and other speakers called for immediate end to siege and communication blackout in Kashmir.

They urged the UN to fulfil its obligation towards the Kashmiri people.