Zardari urges UN action over 1947 killings of Muslims in Jammu
The message marks the anniversary of the 1947 killings and calls on India to release detained people and allow independent investigations.
President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday paid tribute to Kashmiri Muslims killed in Jammu in November 1947 and urged the international community to act, the state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
In a message on Jammu Martyrs' Day, Zardari said Pakistan stands in solidarity with families whose lives were shattered by violence and displacement.
He said forces of the Dogra ruler, aided by extremist militias, carried out a systematic campaign of violence against Jammu's Muslim population 79 years ago on this day.
Thousands of men, women and children were killed, and many others were forced to abandon their homes and ancestral lands, he said.
Zardari said these atrocities changed the demographic makeup of Jammu and left wounds that continue across generations.
He cited recent reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that document arbitrary detentions, curbs on peaceful dissent, punitive house demolitions and suppression of media freedom in Indian-administered Kashmir.
He also noted alarm expressed by UN human rights experts over reports of torture, custodial deaths and collective punishment, and said sweeping security laws are being used to silence journalists and rights defenders.
Zardari said Pakistan is deeply alarmed by the promotion of hatred against Muslims, other religious minorities and Pakistan by right-wing political figures and extremist groups in India, which he said enjoy state patronage.
He said such rhetoric, coming after India's military setback in May 2025, risks fuelling persecution at home and dangerous adventurism abroad.
He urged the United Nations and the wider international community to remember the Jammu victims and act on concerns raised by rights groups and UN mechanisms.
Zardari called on India to release all those arbitrarily detained, protect journalists and rights defenders, end punitive demolitions and collective punishment, and allow independent investigations and access for international observers.
He said Pakistan would continue to raise the Kashmir dispute at every relevant international forum and offer moral, political and diplomatic support until Kashmiris can exercise their right to self-determination under relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
India and Pakistan have both laid claim to Jammu and Kashmir since partition in 1947, and UN Security Council resolutions have called for the future of the territory to be decided by a plebiscite.
The message sets out Pakistan's official position on Kashmir on a day marked to remember the 1947 killings, with the president calling for UN action on rights concerns.
