WASHINGTON: A large number of Kashmiri-Americans and their supporters staged a demonstration in front of the Indian embassy where speakers drew attention to the grave situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ and K) and urged the world community to implement the UN-pledged right to self-determination to the Kashmiri people.
The participants raised slogans and waved placards reading: Modi Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity in Kashmir, India: Guilty of Genocide in Kashmir, Kashmiris Reject Indian Occupation: UN Resolutions only Solution and Kashmir Deserves World Attention.
The protest, marking Kashmir Solidarity Day, commemorates the sacrifices made by people of Indian held Kashmir in their continuing struggle for independence.
Dr Imtiaz Khan, Professor at George Washington University Medical Center, said, “For decades, the Kashmiri people have been facing atrocities inflicted by occupation forces, but flame of freedom continues to kindle in their hearts.”
“Notwithstanding, the acts o
f barbarism committed by the occupation forces the yearning for attaining the right of self-determination becomes stronger with every passing day,” he said.
“India has been encouraged by the criminal silence of the international community over their human right abuses in the occupied Kashmir,” Dr. Khan said.
“Non-resolution of Kashmir could spark a conflict between India and Pakistan, leading to holocaust,” he said, warning New Delhi to be cognizant of these realities.
Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, chairman of the World Forum for Peace and Justice, an advocacy group, said, “The case of Kashmir is simple: a large country bullying a small nation into submission in violation of not only their right to sovereignty but international agreements and two dozen UN resolutions giving them the right to determine their own political fate.”
“The purpose of hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in a small territory is for no other purpose but blatant oppression,” he said.
“Their presences make Kashmir the largest army con
centration anywhere in the world,” he added.
“India has systematically enacted laws, like Domicile Law, designed to change the demography of Kashmir in violations of 18 substantives UN resolutions adopted by the Security Council on Kashmir,” Dr Fai said.
“India refusal to implement these resolutions calling for a plebiscite is at the heart of the problem,” he added.
“The truth is that the people of Kashmir themselves have always been hostile to the presence of India’s troops on their soil and have resisted to such oppression, and over hundred thousand Kashmiris have died within the past 32 years alone,” Dr Fai said.
“The U.N. has the ability to change this miscarriage of justice and to put an end to the violence.”
Sardar Zarif Khan, Advisor to the President of Azad Kashmir and the main organizer of the event, said, “The right of self-determination has been enjoyed by countless other peoples in comparable circumstances, most recently in East Timor, Montenegro and Southern Sudan, The uncertainty over Kashm
ir will lead not only India and Pakistan to disaster but will also destroy any possibility of bringing peace and stability to the region.”
Sardar Zubair khan, a Kashmiri activist, said that India had reneged on its promise to allow the people of Kashmir to exercise their will. It had also unleashed a reign of terror on the civilian population that had been reported by reputable international NGO.
Other speakers included Sardar Shoaib Irshad Khan, Sardar Aftab Roshan Khan, Malik Hamid, Dr Maqsood Choudhary, Raja Liaqat Kayani, Shafiq Shai, Zia Ul Hassan, Gul Sher Sai, Javaid Kousar, Yamin Khan, Maqsood Chughtai, Waseem Zahid, Khalid Faheem, and Sardar Zeeshan Zarif Khan.