Kashmiri representative, Shamim Shawl, has said that India is an irresponsible member of the United Nations Human Rights Council as it has ignored repeated UN requests to probe 364 cases of disappeared Kashmiris during the past 16 years.

Shawl said this in her statement at the 27th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. She told the president and members of the council that the UN Working Group on Disappeared Persons had sent 364 cases to the government of India during last 16 years and India had not investigated even a single case.

“We are dismayed to know that the government of India has not yet accepted the request of the working group for country visit. How can a member of Human Rights Council be so irresponsible?” she asked, in the harshest criticism India faces during the current session of the UNHRC.

Kashmiri activists continued their strong campaign against India’s illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir at the UN Human Rights Council, which is the highest international forum for human rights.

Another Kashmiri representative, Syed Faiz Naqshbandi, presided over a seminar on the sidelines of the UNHRC session. The seminar ‘Education in Conflict Zone’ organized by international human rights defenders discussed access to education in Syria, Iraq, Hawaii, Alaska, and Jammu and Kashmir.

Youth Forum for Kashmir (YFK) Executive Director Ahmed Quraishi delivered a speech on his personal findings during visits to Syria, Iraq and the border regions of Afghanistan.

Turning to Kashmir, Ahmed Quraishi said that the treatment of Kashmiri students in Indian educational institutions was developing into a major international crisis and challenging the right of children to education in conflict zones.

India, he said, needs to be seen publicly condemning organized attacks on the Kashmiri students in the Indian universities. The government of India should also take credible and visible steps to prosecute those Indians involved in attacks on the Kashmiri students and the political parties that instigate them through hate speech.