New Delhi:
Pakistan has once again found itself exposed over its double standards on issues such as terrorism, religious freedom and minority rights, with India's reminder to the international community for the umpteenth time - with showing solid evidence - why Pakistan has no moral authority whatsoever to comment on India's Jammu and Kashmir and domestic matters.
Bhavika Mangalanandan, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India to the UN, who along with other top Indian diplomats participated in an interactive dialogue with the special rapporteur on 'Freedom of Religion and Belief' linked to funeral rights in exceptional circumstances, presented irrefutable evidence and facts about how Pakistan refused to accept the bodies of its soldiers who were killed in action during the Kargil War in 1999.
"It's deeply ironic that a state that did not even accept the bodies of its own soldiers who were killed in combat in 1999 in Kargil unabashedly speaks with fervour on faith, religious freedom and burials. Let me remind them, it was the Indian Army who buried a number of Pakistani soldiers with military honours and in accordance with Islamic rites," Mangalanandan said, highlighting the absence of many relevant facts from the special rapporteur's report.
Special rapporteurs are not paid directly by the UN and are expected to work independently of it.
"Pakistan's deep obsession with what is happening in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir should be actually directed at the developments that are underway in the parts of Jammu and Kashmir under its illegal occupation, such as Rawalakot. In Pakistan, a number of minorities are shrinking, their rights regularly abused. A state that cannot ensure the safety of its own minorities has no standing to lecture India," she said.
READ | 'Dawood Ibrahim Lives In Pakistan, Like Bin Laden Used To': India Corrects UN Rapporteur
Earlier this week, India had also pointed out glaring factual inaccuracies in a report by a special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights at the UN and called for accountability for presenting lies that can harm the global body.
The selective amnesia when it came to Pakistan's narrative against India was effectively demolished by Raghoo Puri, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India to the UN.
"This individual [Dawood Ibrahim] fled India much before the 2003 listing, and it was during this period from an outsider country that he was listed for being associated with al-Qaeda and with Osama Bin Laden," Puri said in a crystal clear reference to Pakistan, a failed nation that uses cross border terrorism and civilian killings as a State policy.
"To date, he remains a wanted criminal in my country, and as per the UN's listing entry, resides in the same country where Osama Bin Laden was found and neutralised," Puri said, pointing at Pakistan's garrison city Abbottabad where Osama bin Laden was found living.
In the context of deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mangalanandan questioned the absence of any mention of what happened in the developed world in the special rapporteur's report.
"Chair, as per the report, all discrimination and wrong practices during COVID-19 supposedly took place only in the Global South. What benefit does the report derive by not mentioning similar tragic situations in the developed world?" she said, adding that deriving political mileage out of people's pain and loss should not be a topic that special rapporteurs should base their relevance on.
"Burial rights for terrorists are being justified by indicating that states may restrict funeral rights of terrorists, but only within legal limits. Legal limits should be determined in accordance with the principles of sovereign rights.
"A terrorist not only kills innocent people, but damages the psyche of a nation. It's a surprise that the fervent advocacy for the rights of terrorists who violate the most sacred right of humans, the right to life, does not similarly extend to the victims of terrorism.
"The report goes back half a decade to find references to my country. It fails when it comes to grave violations committed recently in our region and in the developed world," Mangalanandan said.
#IndiaAtUN Bhavika Mangalanandan, First Secretary, took part in the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief on the topic of funeral rights in-exceptional circumstances. She made the following observations: ➡️ Report attributes all wrong practices during COVID-19 only to the Global South, turning a blind eye to similar tragic situations in the developed world. ➡️ Fervent advocacy made for rights of terrorists who violate the most sacred human right - the right to life! ➡️ Deeply ironic that a State that did not even accept the bodies of its own soldiers who were killed in combat in 1999 in Kargil, unabashedly speaks with fervor on faith, religious freedom and burial rights. ➡️ Reminded delegate of Pakistan that it was the Indian Army who buried a number of Pakistani soldiers with military honours and in accordance with Islamic rites. ➡️ Advised that Pakistan's deep obsession with the Indian Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir should be directed at the developments underway in the parts of Jammu & Kashmir under its illegal occupation, such as Rawalakot. @PMOIndia @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @airnewsalerts @DDNewslive @PIB_India @UN
— India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) October 22, 2026
In May 2025, Indian cruise missiles struck terror and military assets deep inside Pakistan under Operation Sindoor, which India launched in response to the killings of 27 tourists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam by terrorists bred and trained by Pakistan.