Kashmiri activist Javed Beigh raises plight of PoGB at UNHRC: A Historic Intervention for India

While interventions on PoGB at the UNHRC have been made by dissidents from the region living in exile, it was the first time that an intervention was made by an Indian, specifically an Indian Kashmiri Muslim, who spoke about the plight of the people of PoGB at the UNHRC.

PoGB, or Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan, is part of what we in India refer to as "PoJK," a composite term used for the two distinct ethno-linguistic sub-regions of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, ruled by the Hindu Dogra Maharaja Hari Singh on the eve of India's independence from British rule.

https://x.com/JavedBeigh/status/1837187991623848156

Strategically located, PoGB is an extremely remote and little-known part of PoJK, home to the world's second-highest mountain peak, Mount Godwin-Austen, also known as "K2." PoGB is also home to Earth's largest reservoir of freshwater and glacier systems outside Antarctica. Furthermore, PoGB is the only land border that Pakistan shares with China, and it is primarily because of this geopolitical advantage that Pakistan has cowardly used China as a shield against India.

In a post on social media platform X, Javed Beigh wrote, "For the first time in more than 75 years, INDIA has raised the issue of the plight of the people of Pakistan-Occupied Gilgit and Baltistan (PoGB) in the United Nations forum." He added, "I am extremely happy to inform my countrymen and countrywomen from India and other parts of the world that, for the first time in the last 7 decades, the issue of the plight of the people of Pakistan-Occupied Gilgit and Baltistan (PoGB) was raised by India at the forum of the United Nations."

In his statement, he said, "The plight of the people in Pakistan-Occupied Gilgit-Baltistan or PoGB under the Pakistani regime is deeply troubling. The region has been suffering from grave human rights violations, systemic oppression, and severe suppression by the Pakistani authorities. In PoGB, which is part of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and Pakistan's only Shia and Ismaili majority administrative region, the local population has been enduring widespread discrimination and marginalization."

He further stated, "There have been numerous reports of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and arbitrary detentions. The recent surge in protests in PoGB against unfair taxation and resource exploitation has been met with a brutal crackdown by security forces."

While lamenting the situation in Pakistan, he said, "The Pakistani regime's response has been to stifle dissent, silence activists, and curtail basic freedoms, highlighting a disturbing pattern of human rights abuses." He also urged the international community not to ignore the suffering of the people in PoGB, emphasizing the Pakistani state's inaction and active participation in these human rights violations and demanding urgent attention.

In conclusion, he said, "We must call on Pakistan to end its oppressive policies, ensure accountability for human rights abuses, and uphold the dignity and rights of all its citizens." (ANI)