UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has backed Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein's call for an international investigation into human rights situation in Kashmir saying that it represents the "voice of the UN".
He also defended at a news conference on Thursday his own report on children in armed conflict that referred to situations in Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
He denied India's assertions that his report overstepped his mandate and that Zeid's had no mandate and said that they were both covered by the "the general mandate of human rights instruments".
On Monday, India's Deputy Permanent Representative Tanmaya Lal told the Security Council that Zeid's "so-called report" was "reflecting the clear bias of an official who was acting without any mandate whatsoever and relied on unverified sources of information".
As for Guterres's report, Lal said: "We are disappointed that the report of the Secretary General includes situations, which do not meet the definition of armed conflict or of threat to maintenance of international peace and security."
Asked at his news conference if he supported Zeid's call for the independent international investigation, Guterres said: "As you can imagine all the action of the Human Rights High Commissioner is an action that represents the voice of the UN in relation to that issue."
Answering a question about the reports running counter to India's long-standing assertion that Kashmir is a part of India and any problem between the neighbours was a bilateral issue among India and Pakistan, Guterres said there was a distinction between political matters and human rights.
He said: "One thing is the definition of mechanisms for a political solution of a situation in a country and the other thing is the general mandate of human rights instruments in relation to human rights everywhere."
"What the Human Rights Commissioner did was the use of its own competencies and capacities as it does in all other parts of the world to report on what he considers to be relevant human rights violations," Guterres explained.
"It does not mean that there is in that a preference for any kind of methodology for a political solution," he added.
As for India's saying that the situation in the three Indian states mentioned in Guterres's report did not meet "a definition of armed conflict or of threat to maintenance of international peace and security," he said that the same principles applied to it also.
His "report is a report about situations in which the rights of children have been put into question," Guterres said.
In his report in June on children in armed conflict, Guterres accused Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen in Kashmir and Naxalites in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand of using children.
The report simultaneously assigned blame to the Indian government saying, "Children continued to be killed and injured in the context of operations of national security forces against armed groups."
His report added that "unverified reports" indicate national security forces use children as "informants and spies".
Zeid, whose term gets over at the end of 2018, asked the Human Rights Council to set up a Commission of Inquiry into the human rights situation in Kashmir.
The Council did not take up his suggestion at its session that ended last week.
His report said that "Indian security forces used excessive force that led to unlawful killings and a very high number of injuries" in dealing with protests in the state.
The report raised the issue of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) that he asserted gave security personnel "virtual impunity".
Zeid also called for the investigation to look into reports of mass graves in the state.
Rejecting Zeid's report, India's External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said it was "overtly prejudiced and seeks to build a false narrative".
"We are deeply concerned that individual prejudices are being allowed to undermine the credibility of a UN institution," he said in a direct personal criticism of Zeid.
He said it was a compilation of "largely unverified information" and "the authors have conveniently ignored the pattern of cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan and territories under its illegal control."
He added, "The entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Pakistan is in illegal and forcible occupation of a part of the Indian state through aggression."
Multi-cornered contest in 15 NE seats going to polls in 1st phase on Friday
A multi-cornered contest will be witnessed in 15 Lok Sabha seats in the eight northeastern states as the first phase of the 7-phase parliamentary elections is held on Friday.
CM Arvind Kejriwal eating mangoes, sweets to raise blood sugar level: ED tells Delhi court
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said in a Delhi court that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was deliberately eating mangoes and other high-carb food to raise his blood sugar level to build a case for bail.
In Kerala rally, Rajnath Singh takes dig at Cong’s ‘Rahulyaan’, hurls ‘migration’ charge
Union Minister Rajnath Singh, while campaigning for BJP in Kerala’s Kottayam district on Thursday, took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and said that ‘Rahulyaan’ is neither getting launched nor finding a suitable landing.
From Bihar to Punjab, how labourers turned into sharpshooters for Lawrence Bishnoi syndicate
Instead of solely targeting aspiring talents, the Bishnoi gang has now begun luring unsuspecting labourers with the promise of lucrative payouts.
PM Modi took decisive steps to bring peace in Northeast: BJP chief Nadda
BJP President J. P. Nadda has asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took decisive steps to bring peace in the Bodoland area of Assam by signing the Bodo peace accord.
Bitcoin scam case: ED attaches assets worth over Rs 97 cr of Raj Kundra, Shilpa Shetty
The attached properties include a residential flat in Juhu, which is in the name of Shilpa Shetty, another residential bungalow in Pune and equity shares in Raj Kundra's name.
NASA head Nelson says China hiding military presence in space
The chief of US space agency NASA has told lawmakers in Washington that China is using civilian programmes to hide military objectives in space.
Lok Sabha poll crucial in building developed nation: CM
Chief Minister Prof. Dr. Manik Saha on Wednesday said that the 2024 Lok Sabha election holds significant importance in re-electing Narendra Modi as Prime Minister of India for a third term and in making a corruption-free country and developed nation.