Indian government’s refusal to accept the offer of United Nations high commissioner for human rights Sheikh Zeid Raadal-Hussein for a UN human rights fact finding mission in India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir is another example of the churlish intransigence that has characterised India’s approach on the Kashmir dispute. According to the statement of the Indian External Affairs Ministry “Indian democracy has all that is required to address legitimate grievances.” However, the situation in Kashmir paints an entirely different picture altogether as the unrest in the Indian-held valley has claimed at least 81 lives, and with over 800 injured. Moreover, Pakistan’s acceptance of the UN human rights investigation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir given India agrees to it in India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir has to a great extent undermined Indian claims of Pakistani oppression in the area. To say that India is as democratic for Kashmir as it for the rest of the country is mere eyewash and amounts to negating the legitimate grievances of the Kashmiri people.
