Rehman Malik urges Imran Khan to drag Modi to ICC

Islamabad: PPP senior leader and Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior Senator A. Rehman Malik has written a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan and has urged him to drag PM Narendra Modi as war criminal in ICC under Rome Statute.

He said that for the purpose he is at the disposal of the Law Ministry, MOFA and Kashmir Committee to assist in getting the petition materialized in shortest possible time.

Senator Rehman Malik said that in view of the recent developments in New York wherein the international community almost ignored the Kashmir Issue and despite all efforts Pakistan could not file a request to table a resolution in UNHRC on Kashmir and Pakistan has not yet moved any resolution to UN for time line for plebiscite, yet Pakistan has an option to file petition in International Criminal Court against PM Modi for his crimes against humanity in Kashmir.

He said that having lost chance to go to UNHRC because of the lacking of required 16 votes, it seems that effective diplomatic home work was not strategized to formulate the multiple diplomatic options to pursue the Kashmir issue in United Nations prior to the visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He said that he feels that as a last resort, an option is still left with Pakistan to drag PM Modi in International Criminal Court under Rome Convention and in this regard he has written an open letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan.

In his letter, Senator Rehman Malik writes ‘’I would like to point out that it is widely known that country is passing through the testing times after the 5th August, 20019 when Indian Government illegally and contrary to International Laws and UN resolutions revoked Article 370 and 35A setting aside the United Nations Security Councils resolutions and simultaneously curfew was imposed in Indian Occupied Kashmir which is continued till the date and it is the 54th of caging the oppressed Kashmiri and the voice of Kashmiri is still unheard as rightly started by the PM Imran Khan in one of his pressers.’ He expresses that the special status of Kashmir has already been scraped by India which has empowered India to make demographic changes through ethnic cleansing.

He writes to PM Imran Khan that there is no doubt that the conspiracy engineered by India through blame game ultimately resulted in placement of Pakistan in FATF’s grey list that is one of the component of hybrid war being backed by India. He adds ‘’The placement of Pakistan in FATF grey list has affected the inflow of foreign Investment in Pakistan and the International Financial Institutions like International Monitory Fund (IMF), World Bank, Asian Bank etc. have made the terms and conditions more complicated to avoid Loans to Pakistan.’’

He further writes in his letter ‘’Without going into the blame game, I would like to state that over the last few decades Pakistan has been pushed into isolation by well-planned Indian lobbying at diplomatic front. That is why Pakistan could not secure even 16 votes by member states to file a request for a resolution on Kashmiris at the United Nations Human Rights Counsel Geneva. Evidently we missed the opportunity to drag India and expose the brutalities of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kashmir through IHRC.

He emphasized “Mr. Prime Minister! You have expressed in one of your pressers at New York that “To be absolutely frank, I am a bit disappointed by the international community. There is no pressure on Narendra Modi to lift the siege”. This statement of yours is enough to prove the intentional silence of International Community over the sufferings of oppressed Kashmiris in Indian Occupied Kashmir. ”

Senator Rehman Malik urges “Mr. Prime Minster, Your speech today in United Nations without having a resolution either for the demand for a specific date of plebiscite or to table the resolution in UNHRC will not yield any specific relief for Kashmiris. I propose you to please appeal to the entire International community to force PM Modi to give commitment here to lift the curfew within 48 hours now that the second chance to bring India in ICJ has been lost and Modi managed his way out as a Chief of RSS”. He adds ‘’I would like to invite your attention to the only option left for Pakistan and Kashmir to move the matter to the International Criminal Court under the Rome Statute where in the oppressed Kashmiri victims through the representatives in Azad Kashmir and other parts of the world would come forward to file this petition in ICC to drag PM Modi as War criminal and you have very rightly stated that PM Modi is a war criminal. I have already advocated my point of view in Senate Standing Committee for foreign Affairs in the presence of our Foreign Minister and meeting with Foreign Secretary Foreign Affairs.’’

While the explaining the Rome Statute, Senator Rehman Malik reproduces and writes ‘’I had even handed over the procedure of filing petition to him in the presence of prominent Kashmiri leaders. The procedure for referring the case to the ICC under Rome statute is “Any individual, group or State can send information to the OTP regarding alleged crimes falling under the jurisdiction of the Court. To date, the OTP has received more that 12,000 of such communications, which can form the initial basis of the Office’s preliminary examinations. The OTP conducts a preliminary examination to decide whether there is a reasonable basis to initiate an investigation”. (Extracted from the “Office of the Prosecutor” ICC)

In his letter, Senator Rehman Malik urges ‘’In view of above, I as Former Interior Minister and as a responsible citizen of Pakistan recommend your good office to immediately direct the Law Ministry to make the necessary legal formalities and move the matter in support of a petition from Kashmiris to International Criminal Court immediately. Mr. Prime Minister we have lost already two opportunities for his unprecedented brutalities against the Innocent Kashmiris in terms of mass murders, mass blinding, enforced disappearances, torture, rape, political repression and suppression of freedom of speech and long sieged of the whole valley making it the world largest cage since August 5, 2019. We need to drag PM Modi as war criminal and for that I am at the disposal of the Law Ministry, MOFA and Kashmir Committee to assist in getting the petition materialized in shortest possible time. The charge sheet is already available in the form of International Human rights report 2018 on IHK.’’

He explains ‘’I am writing this letter purely in the national interest and to pullout the Kashmiri Brothers and Sisters from the cage in Kashmir where PM Modi is doing ethnic cleansing and demographic changes without any fear through Indian Army and inhabiting the terrorists of RSS and fanatics of Hindutva. Let’s bring Prime Minster Narendra Modi to justice before he changes the demography of Kashmir through RSS, RAW and Indian Army.’’

He offers ‘’I offer my assistance to the Law ministry in the task of completing the formalities and provide the requisite substantive evidence against PM Modi.’’

He said that he hopes and wishes that the international community answers your (Prime Minister Imran Khan) call positively in favor of oppressed Kashmiri women and children under curfew suffering without medical care & food.