Pak urges UNICEF to remove Priyanka as goodwill ambassador

Pakistan Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari's appeal is a part of her government's attempt to get the global community to censure India over its move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Islamabad: Demanding the removal of actress Priyanka Chopra as United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund's (UNICEF) global goodwill ambassador for child rights, Pakistan Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari has written to the UNICEF. Priyanka had supported the Indian government's action in Kashmir.

In a letter to UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, Mazari said, "Priyanka's support for war, including a nuclear war, undermines the credibility of the UN position to which she has been elevated. Unless she is removed immediately, the very idea of a Goodwill Ambassador for Peace becomes a mockery globally."

Mazari cited the "crisis" in Jammu and Kashmir due to the Narendra Modi government's revocation of its special status and alleged "ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Muslims" there. She alleged that the Modi government is denying four million Indian Muslims their citizenship in the northeastern Indian state of Assam.

She alleged the Indian security forces have "intensified" the use of pellet guns "against women and children" in Kashmir.

Mazari said, "Priyanka has publicly endorsed this Indian government position and also supported the nuclear threat issued to Pakistan by the Indian Defence Minister." She was referring to Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's statement that India's commitment to a 'No First Use' in nuclear policy is subject to future circumstances.

Mazari believes that all this goes completely against the principles of peace and goodwill that Priyanka is supposed to uphold as a UN Goodwill Ambassador for Peace.

Her appeal is part of the Imran Khan government's attempt to get the global community to censure India over its move to revoke special status for Kashmir.

Islamabad has failed in garnering international support for its move, barring from good friend China.