Democracy ‘alien concept’ for Pak, must end rights abuses in occupied areas: India at UN
United Nations (PTI): Asserting that democracy is an "alien" concept for Pakistan, India has called upon Islamabad to end grave human rights violations in territories under its illegal occupation, where the population is in "open revolt" against military occupation, repression, brutality and exploitation.
Responding to references made by Pakistan's envoy at the UN Security Council's open debate on 'The United Nations Organisation: Looking into the Future' on Friday, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, said,
"The people of Jammu and Kashmir exercise their fundamental rights in accordance with India’s time-tested democratic traditions and constitutional framework."
"We, of course, know that these are concepts alien to Pakistan," he said.
The envoy reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir “has been, is, and will always be” an integral and inalienable part of India.
Strongly rebuking Islamabad, Harish said, “We call upon Pakistan to end the grave and ongoing human rights violations in the areas illegally occupied by it, where the population is in open revolt against Pakistan’s military occupation, repression, brutality and illegal exploitation of resources.”
Harish also emphasised that the UN must undertake “real, comprehensive reforms,” saying that the 80-year-old Security Council architecture no longer reflects contemporary geopolitical realities.
“An outdated Council architecture that mirrors the geopolitical realities of 1945 is not equipped to handle the challenges of 2025,” he said, calling for expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories through “time-bound" and "text-based negotiations”.
He underlined that the Global South must have a greater voice in global decision-making, adding that “postponing reforms indefinitely does immense disservice to our citizens, especially in the Global South”.
“This bloc of countries represents the overwhelming proportion of humanity and has its unique set of challenges, particularly in the areas of development, climate and financing,” Harish said, adding that global decision-making must be more democratic and inclusive.
Highlighting India's commitment to multilateralism, he said the world must move beyond “pennies and posts” to craft a new vision for the UN that is more agile and responsive to global challenges such as pandemics, terrorism, economic instability, and climate change.
Harish noted that the world’s largest multilateral body faces questions of “relevance, legitimacy, credibility, and efficacy”.
He cautioned that international cooperation is increasingly being viewed as charity and that prosperity is being “ring-fenced amid shrinking access to resources and technologies necessary for growth”. He said progress that is not universal is “neither sustainable nor tenable in moral terms or on a practical basis".
Harish also called for making UN mechanisms more agile, noting that peacekeepers face “newer challenges every day” and need realistic mandates, adequate resources, and technological support.
“Structural adjustments of different UN bodies are welcome, but not enough,” he said, urging that UN80, the 80th anniversary of the organisation, should aim for “real, comprehensive reforms of the UN and its principal organs.”
Harish further emphasised the need to revitalise the General Assembly as the UN's principal deliberative and policymaking body, enhancing coordination with other organs, particularly the Security Council, to realise the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
He cautioned member states against using the UN as a “theatre for divisive politics and parochial purposes,” saying, “In a world fractured and fragmented along multiple fault lines, the United Nations... is the only vehicle we possess to harness our collective energies for global public good.”
Harish invoked India's civilisational ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, “the world is one family”, and urged all member states to come together and join hands towards realising "this vision for making the UN fit for purpose for the new era”.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
