Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organization (MAPIM) organized Genocide Memorial Day (GMD) event at Selongor International Islamic University College, Malaysia. This year the theme topic was Genocide in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir.

MAPIM – an umbrella organization of 200 Islamic NGOs – focuses on humanitarian relief, education, socio-economic uplift, da’wah and human rights advocacy. The GMD is an annual event organized by MAPIM to raise public awareness especially amongst the youth. This year, the objective was to highlight the incessant plight, denial of right to life, genocide and ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Muslims at the hands of Indian troops in occupied Kashmir. The Pakistani High Commissioner, Mohammad Nafees Zakaria, was invited as guest speaker.

Mohammad Nafees Zakaria appreciated organisers’ (MAPIM’s) constant support to and solidarity with the people of occupied Kashmir, their concern over the grave human rights situation there and choosing Kashmir as the theme for the ‘Genocide Memorial Day’. He said that the choice of theme reflected the deep concern and understanding among the brethren in Malaysia over challenges faced by the Muslim Ummah, particularly the Kashmiris.

The High Commissioner said that the dispute of Jammu and Kashmir was internationally recognized. There are UN Security Council resolutions that call for a UN-supervised plebiscite to enable Kashmiris to exercise their right to self-determination, he said. He deplored that the UN Security Council and UNCIP Resolutions on the Kashmir dispute remain unimplemented for the past seven decades which have made the Kashmiri people to suffer. He said, the Government of Pakistan extends diplomatic, political and moral support to the Kashmiris and wishes to resolve the longstanding Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions on Kashmir.

Nafees Zakaria highlighting the arbitrary arrests and disappearances in occupied Kashmir said that in 2009, a local NGO International People’s Tribunal (IPTK) issued a report on thousands of unnamed and unmarked mass graves, which the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) and IPTK discovered.

The High Commissioner referring to the Amnesty International’s appalling account entitled ‘Losing Sight in Kashmir – The Impact of Pellet Firing Shotguns’ said that since 9th July 2016, Kashmiri youth were being targeted. “Hundreds of defenceless students, girls and boys, young men and women, and even children have been martyred and over a thousand have been blinded, either fully or partially, by the use of pellet guns. Tens of thousands were injured, some critically while medical facility was denied simultaneously to aggravate their pain. Each account of Amnesty International’s report of pellet victims is a story of pain, expression of helplessness and reflection of life full of darkness,” he said.

Nafees Zakaria presented the salient points of the 14 June 2018 report issued by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) which inter alia called for an independent inquiry commission’s visit to occupied Kashmir. “The report has highlighted lack of access to justice to victims and impunity enjoyed by Indian troops. The OHCHR report termed the use of pellet guns as the most dangerous weapon,” he pointed out.

The High Commissioner informed the audience about deep concerns echoed in the British House of Commons, where extensive debates were held in September 2010 – after the discovery of unnamed mass graves in IOK – and in September 2014 and January 2017. The atrocities and human rights violations were also highlighted from the platform of All-Party Parliamentary Group on Kashmir in the British Parliament, of late, he added.

“Pakistan has been highlighting the sufferings of the oppressed people of occupied Kashmir at global level and stressing upon the world community including the UN, OIC and human rights organizations to help end daily killings and bring the perpetrators to account for the crimes against humanity committed with impunity,” he maintained. Nafees Zakaria emphasized that the bloodshed in occupied Kashmir must stop immediately and the Kashmir dispute be resolved on priority basis.

The MAPIM President expressed concern over the sufferings of Muslims across the globe. He condemned the silence of the international community over the atrocities committed by the Indian forces in occupied Kashmir. He pledged MAPIM’s constant support to the people of the occupied territory.

A declaration on ‘Genocide Memorial Day 2019’ was issued at the end of event. The declaration denounced the genocide of Kashmiri people by the Indian occupational forces.