World Muslim Congress calls for urgent UN Intervention to end “Cultural Genocide” in IIOJK

MIRPUR (AJK) , (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point news - 15th Mar, 2026) Delivering a statement with “grave alarm” at the 61st Session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), speaking on behalf of the World Muslim Congress in Swiss city of Geneva, Altaf Hissain Wani Chairman KIIR has called for immediate international intervention in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), describing the territory as an “open-air prison” where occupation has metastasized into systematic cultural genocide and political erasure.

Speaking under Agenda Item 3 during the General Debate, representative Altaf Hussain Wani detailed a catastrophic human rights situation characterized by the complete suppression of fundamental freedoms.

“India has transformed Kashmir into an open-air prison,” Wani stated, highlighting the crushing of free expression and peaceful assembly under draconian laws, alongside a suffocating digital siege and pervasive social media surveillance that criminalizes dissent and isolates the population from the world, says a message reaching and released to the media here Sunday.

"The statement detailed relentless harassment against human rights defenders, who face arbitrary detention and extrajudicial violence, while thousands of political prisoners languish in jails for years without trial.

Wani specifically condemned Delhi’s “Seven Pillars” security doctrine, describing it not as a framework for protection but as “seven bars of an iron cage” that militarizes every aspect of civilian life", the message said.

The World Muslim Congress urged the international community to move beyond expressions of concern and take concrete steps to address what it termed an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, insisting that the UNHRC has both the mandate and the moral obligation to ensure accountability for violations in the disputed territory.

APP/ahr/378