COLOMBO
South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR), a regional network of human rights defenders, has demanded that the governments of India and Pakistan immediately de-escalate “the current war situation”.
Issuing a statement on Thursday [May 8, 2025], it warned that “failing to do so will irrevocably affect people of both countries as well as the people of South Asia”.
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The rights body said it “vehemently condemned” India’s “Operation Sindoor” military strikes across nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir early on Wednesday (May 7, 2025), and observed that Pakistan’s retaliation was “further escalating this situation”.
While many governments and political leaders in the region were quick to condemn the gruesome terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, 2025, that claimed 26 lives, they have not commented on the escalation in tensions between India and Pakistan so far.
Reiterating the need for “a credible and transparent investigation” into the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, led by the United Nations, SAHR observed that the people of India, Pakistan as well as the region must avoid “any means of war mongering”. “Ultimately the two governments are accountable for all the intentional destruction and loss of life, and therefore must strive to maintain an effective, and meaningful dialogue and diplomacy to address related issues and concerns,” it further noted.
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Urging the two parties to refrain from “toxic weaponisation of religion”, the regional network of rights activists expressed solidarity with the “fundamental rights of the people of Kashmir and their long years of struggle”.
“Peace is essential to South Asians, especially now. There are numerous human rights and humanitarian issues that people of India and Pakistan and the entire region are facing which have compelled them to survive with the bare minimum provisions and capacity sans upgrading their life to a dignified standard.”
Published – May 08, 2025 07:38 pm IST