Washington, October 28, 2022 (PPI-OT): A large number of Kashmiri Americans and their supporters and friends staged a protest demonstration in front of the Indian embassy in Washington, DC. On the occasion President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir at which Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry and other speakers drew the attention of the Biden administration to the grave human rights situation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The participants, who came from various US states, including Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, etc., waved placards reading: “Indian Forces: Out of Kashmir” “Stop Killing in Kashmir” “Demilitarize Kashmir” “U.N. Implement Resolutions on Kashmir” “US Can Stop Genocide in Kashmir,” “Wake Up Wake Up: UN Wake Up.”
Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry warned that the deadly silence of the world powers over gruesome human rights abuses by the occupation forces in Kashmir had given India a virtual license to kill innocent Kashmiris. The government of India has to stop viewing Kashmir from the prism of Pakistan, he added.
Pointing out that hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, tortured, jailed, and are missing, Barrister said that no struggle of such magnitude could be sponsored by an external party. Barrister warned that Kashmir is facing the worst kind of oppression unleashed by the Indian army. Innocent people are being killed, maimed, blinded, incarcerated, tortured and humiliated by the occupational forces, he lamented. He said India is using its military might to crush the peaceful resistance movement of Kashmir and this all is being done with impunity.
Barrister Sultan added that Kashmiris are the real sufferers and unless they are taken on board no process, whether track one or track two can make any headway. He underlined that it was imperative that self-determination be granted to the people of Kashmir to maintain peace and stability in the region. Dr. Ghulam Nabi Mir, President, World Kashmir Awareness Forum and Chairman, newly constituted “Kashmir Diaspora Coalition”, said, “We are honoured to have the Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry among us on this sad day to join us on Kashmir Black Day.
He said 75 years ago, on this day without any justification or provocation India invaded Jammu and Kashmir. “October 27 remains etched in our memory and our conscience. It was the day India decimated our dreams of a free nation. The savage uncalled-for invasion was to become a long national nightmare for millions of Kashmiris, he added. Dr Mir said Kashmiris are victims of multiple periods of genocide starting in 1947 and 1948 and multiple genocides in 1990s. Now Kashmir, he said, is a case of full-fledged ethnic cleansing, demographic change, and settler-colonialism.
He urged the United Nations and the world community to stand up and speak out against Indian state terrorism and allow Kashmiris to exercise their right to self-determination under relevant UN resolutions. This is the only way an impending humanitarian catastrophe can be avoided, Dr. Mir demanded.
Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman, World Forum for Peace and Justice, said the people of Kashmir do not wish anybody to take a partisan side. Kashmiris are convinced, nevertheless, that impartial observers would support the Kashmir cause based on universal principles, democratic values, rule of law and international justice. It is high time that the negotiations, not violence, be the only way to resolve the Kashmir conflict, and that Kashmiris cannot be excluded from the negotiating table if a peace process is to be serious, meaningful and result oriented, he maintained.
Dr Fai highlighted that our objective of peaceful protest was to draw attention of the Biden administration to the situation in Kashmir and to exert pressure on the government of India and to resolve dispute over Kashmir and help stop human right violations in Indian occupied Kashmir. “The genuine test of how much we care about such abuses is what we do about them, not just what we say about them. And the United Nations, despite all its shortcomings still seems an ideal place to begin with a serious plan of action,’ Fai stressed.
Sardar Sawar Khan, former Advisor to the Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir said, “The United Nations has unfinished business in Kashmir. He said there exists several United Nations resolutions that clearly state the people of Kashmir have the right to determine their own future through a free, fair and impartial vote. He asked the United Nations to follow through on its commitment to the people of Kashmir and hoped that a new dawn of prosperity, peace and stability will be guaranteed when the Kashmir dispute is resolved to the satisfaction of the Kashmiri people.
Dr. Maqsood Chaudhry, a prominent humanitarian in the interfaith community, said, “Our objective should be to motivate our community to participate in the American public square and be active participants in the civic discourse in our neighbourhood.” He urged the audience to become involved in the public offices at the local level. He said the Kashmir dispute is about the right to self-determination of the people of Kashmir…
Imtiaz Khan, a notable human rights activist from New Jersey, said the resolution of the Kashmir issue could have enabled both Pakistan and India to spend their finite resources more on the development of their people rather than on defence expenditure. He expressed his admiration to the Kashmiri American community for being the ambassadors of peace in the United States for the cause of Kashmir.
Saleem Qadri, a well-known human rights activist from Maryland, said the Kashmir question was one of the oldest unresolved international conflicts in the world. He said that the people of Kashmir demand the release of all political prisoners in Indian occupied Kashmir, including Masart Aalam, Shabir Ahmed Shah, Yasin Malik and Aasiya Andrabi.
Sardar Zubair Khan, President of Kashmir American Welfare Association (KAWA), said the Government of India has refused the dialogue with both Pakistani and the Kashmiri leadership. It has chosen instead the brutal path of violent crackdown on all political dissent in IIOJK. Shoaib Irshad, Joint Secretary of Kashmir American Welfare Association (KAWA), called on the world leaders to persuade India and Pakistan to initiate a meaningful dialogue with the Kashmiri leadership to settle the Kashmir dispute once and for all.
Aftab Shah, a well-known businessman from New Jersey, highlighted that the Indian army was conducting a campaign of slaughter in Kashmir. Each day they shoot and kill civilians; detain and brutally torture innocent Kashmiri men, women and children. He added that there is no freedom in Kashmir, only death, destruction and oppression, he deplored.
Raja Liaqat Kayani, President, Kashmir House, Washington, said the Indian army is engaged in serious human rights abuses in Kashmir and world powers need to know that the so-called ‘world’s most populous democracy’ is a grave offender of the most basic of human rights. Sardar Sajid Sawar expressed his sadness that no civilized nation, not even the United States seems to be concerned with the human rights atrocities being committed in this unfortunate land of Kashmir.
Sardar Aftab Roshan Khan said the world powers must remind both India and Pakistan that the final status of Kashmir is yet to be determined and it has to be decided by the people of Kashmir. Akram Butt, a familiar businessman of the community, said, “Each day that India kills innocent civilians, it strengthens the sentiments of Aazadi amongst the general population in IIOJK. The right to self-determination is the right of Kashmiris that was guaranteed under UN Security Council resolutions, he added.
Maqsood Chugtai said that it was our duty to support the people of Kashmir who are struggling for their right to self-determination. Shafiq Shah of Maryland said, “We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Kashmiri brethren.” He added that defying all odds, the brave desire and aspirations of the Kashmiris for liberty and justice remain strong forever.
Gul Sheer Sai said today the consensus is that the Kashmir dispute remains the underlying cause of the nuclear confrontation between the two neighbouring countries. Without a just and lasting peace in Kashmir that vindicates self-determination, trying to reduce missile and nuclear arsenals in South Asia will be an exercise in futility. Zia ul Hassan said, “We feel honoured to help our brethren in Jammu and Kashmir. We believe that it is only fair that the Kashmir dispute must be decided in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions. We must accept whatever the people of Kashmir decide.”
Zafar Shah said that the people of Kashmir want Azaadi (freedom). “Our message to the people of Kashmir is: Continue your peaceful struggle; Freedom is ours; and don’t compromise on your basic principle of self-determination.” Sardar Zarif Khan, main emcee of the rally, said nothing better could be said about human rights in Kashmir. Every human rights group that has examined the convulsed scene in Kashmir has reported harrowing human rights violations, including tens of thousands of extrajudicial killings, rape, torture, plunder, arbitrary arrests, and ruthless suppression of free speech and press. The United States State Department annual human rights report invariably paints an ugly human rights dispensation in Kashmir.
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