- India criticised UN report’s ‘India-based’ description of D-Company.
- India clarified Dawood resides in Pakistan, wanted for terror.
- India voiced concern about report’s factual inaccuracies and omissions.
- India also rejected Pakistan’s claims on Jammu and Kashmir.
India has strongly criticised UN Special Rapporteur Ben Saul over a counter-terrorism report that described underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company criminal network as “India-based”, raising concerns over alleged factual inaccuracies and the need for impartiality.
Speaking at the United Nations, India’s First Secretary at its Permanent Mission, Raghoo Puri, said Dawood was a wanted criminal in India and that the UN’s own listing entry indicated he was living in Pakistan.
The report, titled “Distinguishing Organized Crime From Terrorism To Protect Human Rights”, was released in July. Special rapporteurs are independent experts who do not receive direct payment from the UN and are expected to carry out their mandates independently.
India Questions UN Report’s Description Of D-Company
Puri expressed “serious concern” over the publication of reports containing alleged factual inaccuracies without accountability for those responsible. He said the report mentioned that the UN Security Council had listed the head of D-Company in 2003 over links to Al-Qaeda but did not adequately reflect the group’s history of alleged involvement in terror attacks in India.
Puri said Dawood and D-Company had been wanted in India over the 1993 terror attacks. He argued that this information was recorded in the narrative summary accompanying the listing under the UN Security Council’s 1267 sanctions regime.
“Not mentioning this fact is regrettable, and such incompetence on the part of special mandate holders does this organisation tremendous harm,” Puri said.
He added that Dawood had been listed over links to Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden while operating from outside India, and said the report’s description failed to reflect what he called the actual reality.
‘He Resides Where Bin Laden Was Found’
Puri reiterated that Dawood remained wanted in India and said he “resides in the same country where Osama bin Laden was found and neutralised”, referring to Pakistan.
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who masterminded the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people, was found and killed by US forces in a fortified compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2011.
India has repeatedly cited bin Laden’s discovery in Pakistan while challenging claims about the country’s efforts against terrorism. In September, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Harish Parvathaneni, told the UN assembly that Al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed were eventually found in populated areas rather than remote hideouts.
India Rejects Pakistan’s Remarks On Jammu And Kashmir
Puri also responded to remarks by Pakistan’s delegation, rejecting its claims concerning Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. He described the remarks as propaganda for narrow political gains and accused Pakistan’s military leadership of being behind them.
“It seems to have become fashionable for sponsors of terror to use human rights and the framework of counterterrorism to justify their misdeeds,” Puri said, adding that terrorism could never be justified.
He reiterated India’s position that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral parts of the country.
“I would like to reiterate for the record that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are inalienable parts of India, have been so, and will always remain so,” he said.
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