WASHINGTON: Kashmiri-American nationals and their sympathizers across the country commemorated Kashmir Martyrs Day on Thursday and vowed to continue their fight for their UN-promised right to self-determination and freedom from India’s occupation.
This day commemorates the murder of 22 Kashmiris by the army of the then-ruler of Dogra, Maharaja Hari Singh. On July 13, 1931, a fatal shooting occurred in front of the Srinagar jail. Since then, Kashmiris have been regularly carried out nonviolent demonstrations and organized lectures and conferences.
These activities are aimed reaffirming their commitment to honor more than 100,000 innocent men, women, and children brutally murdered by Indian occupation forces since that pivotal day.
The World Kashmir Awareness Forum’s Secretary General, Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, made a powerful plea to the world’s leaders to acknowledge the Kashmiri people’s long-standing aspirations for freedom.
He said that the Kashmiri people will never forget their martyrs’ noble service and unwavering efforts. Fai added that their efforts would always be remembered as a turning point in Kashmir’s struggle for freedom.
Dr. Fai emphasized that Kashmiris had little trust or regard for the so-called Indian democracy, citing an opinion piece from the New York Times from the previous year that stated, ‘Modi’s India Is Where Global Democracy Dies.’ The Huffington Post also published an article titled “As Kashmir Is Erased, Indian Democracy Dies in Silence” on August 5, 2019. “The desire for self-determination is the one very big ‘element’ India should be concerned about, yet continues to pretend to the world that it does not exist,” Fai said, adding that such tactics will not stop the decades-old opposition to Indian authority in Kashmir.
However, he asserted that the Kashmiri people had made it very clear to the international community that the Kashmir issue is not one of governance, economic incentives, or packages, contrary to what Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed when he repealed Articles 370 and 35 A on August 5, 2019. They want the world to be aware that young Kashmiri people are dying in the streets instead of protesting for jobs or better infrastructure but for the people’s right to self-determination.
Indian forces’ brutalities highlighted
Fai emphasized that it is impossible and undesirable to ignore the brutality of the Indian government. Otherwise, how can one define the vision of US President Joe Biden, who claimed, “I have taken concrete steps to reaffirm our moral leadership on the global state and put human rights back at the center of our foreign policy,” while conveniently omitting to inform PM Modi on June 22, 2023, that Kashmir was on the verge of genocide, as warned by Dr. Gregory Stanton, the Chairman of the Genocide Watch? “The people of Kashmir request that the world’s citizens take a position and speak out in favor of Kashmir’s freedom. We urge the Biden administration to engage India, Pakistan, and authorized Kashmiri representatives in a meaningful, goal-oriented dialogue.
He added, “We demand complete and immediate restoration of all basic human rights, including assembly and speech, and access to all forms of communication, freedom of movement, and unconditional release of all political detainees, including Aasia Andarbi, Mohammad Yasin Malik, Masarat Aalam, Shabbir Ahmed Shah. Khurram Parvez, the human rights defender of international fame, should also be freed immediately. The Time Magazine put him among the 100 most influential people of 2022, and Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, remarked, ‘Khurram Parvez is not a terrorist. He is a human rights defender’.” –APP
