Pakistan flays 'human rights violations' in JK

Pakistan on Tuesday called on India to 'review the practice' of describing Jammu and Kashmir as its 'integral part' of its territory, even as Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani flayed the alleged human rights violations in the Valley.

"Indians should quit the policy of finding a solution to the Kashmir issue under their constitution and they should review the practice of calling (Jammu and) Kashmir an integral part of India," Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told the media.

India should "quit the practice of deceiving itself on the issue of Kashmir and come forward with a serious and sincere approach for a negotiated settlement of the long-standing dispute," Basit said. He noted that it was a matter of concern for all that over 100 Kashmiris had died during the past three months.

"We are very concerned with the situation and we understand that this issue cannot be solved through the use of force," he said. The Kashmir dispute is an international issue that is the subject of a number of UN resolutions, he said.

Accusing India of using all options to 'suppress the struggle of the Kashmiri people' over the past six decades, Basit said the time has come for India to think rationally for regional and global peace. Speaking in the National Assembly or lower house of the parliament, Prime Minister Gilani emphasised the importance of the Kashmir issue and criticised alleged 'human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

"We condemn violations of human rights in Kashmir. It is an important issue and Monday's resolution (in both houses of parliament) has sensitised the international community on these violations," Gilani said in response to a point raised by Special Parliamentary Kashmir Committee chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

He said for the first time the Kashmir Committee's chairman is going to the United Nations to raise this issue. The Senate and National Assembly on Monday adopted resolutions backing the protests in Jammu and Kashmir and calling on the world community to take note of alleged human rights abuses by Indian security forces.