ANKARA

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday called upon India to reverse all “illegal and unilateral measures” taken on or after Aug. 5, 2019, and “to stop the gross, systematic and widespread human rights abuses in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir.” 

The call made by OIC Chief Hissein Brahim Taha was read out by Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine and Al-Quds Affairs Samir Bakr at an event and photo exhibition hosted by the Muslim bloc's secretariat general in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

The event in Jeddah was held to highlight the “gross human rights violations in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and to strengthen OIC solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” the 57-member bloc of Muslim nations said in a statement.

Taha said that meaningful engagement and dialogue among the parties, as well as “a constructive involvement of the international community are essential steps in the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.”

The secretary-general recalled that during the 49th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers held in March this year in Nouakchott, Mauritania, the council urged India to reverse “all illegal and unilateral measures taken on or after 5 August 2019, and to stop the gross, systematic and widespread human rights abuses in the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir.”

On Aug 5. 2019, the Hindu-nationalist Indian government scrapped the autonomous status of the only Muslim-majority region administered by it and divided it into two centrally ruled Union Territories that have been ruled since then by officials appointed by New Delhi.

Before Aug 5. 2019, Jammu and Kashmir had its own constitution, flag, and two-house assembly that could make its own laws.

The Indian government also scrapped another legislation, Article 35A of the Indian Constitution, which empowered the Jammu and Kashmir government to define its residents and barred all outsiders from owning properties or taking government jobs, raising fears that more than 12 million original residents, nearly 28% of them Hindus, would be reduced into a minority by outsiders.

The Indian government defended the move as its “sovereign decision” approved by parliament. It said the special status was responsible for “separatism” – the popular anti-India insurgency is now nearly 33 years old – and was responsible for the economic backwardness of the region.

It is facing challenge in the Supreme Court of India where judges are hearing cases against removal of special status almost on a daily basis.

The Aug. 5, 2019 decisions were preceded and followed by the arrest of tens of hundreds of pro-freedom and pro-India politicians and activists and a massive crackdown on the media. The region has been without an elected government for more than five years now.