Braving rain, Kashmiris protest outside UN HQ during Jaishankar’s speech
Protsters demand fulfillment of UN pledges on Kashmir
New York: While Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar addressed the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Kashmiris and their supporters staged a peaceful demonstration outside UN Headquarters calling for justice and fulfillment of UN commitments on Jammu and Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, despite strong winds and heavy showers, demonstrators including women and children remained outside the UN building carrying banners and placards and raising slogans in support of peace, justice and the right to self-determination.
The banners read: “India Took Away Article 370, But Not Our Dreams, Not Our Identity”, “Kashmir Elections Are Just a Deception: Plebiscite Is the Only Solution”, “Kashmiris Reject Indian Occupation: UN Resolutions—The Only Solution”, “Kashmir Needs Freedom and Justice”, and “UN Resolutions State Clearly: Kashmir Is Not an Indian Protectorate.”
The demonstrators also called for release of Kashmiri political prisoners including Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Masarat Aalam Butt, Aasiya Andrabi, Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen.The protest was sponsored by the World Kashmiri Awareness Forum. The organizers acknowledged joint efforts of Raja Mukhtar, National Spokesperson of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) North America, and Sardar Taj Khan, Senior Vice President of Kashmiri Mission, USA, saying their cooperation shows importance of placing Kashmir cause above organizational differences.
The organizers said the gathering demonstrated that Kashmiris can work together around a common commitment to peace, justice and rights of the Kashmiri people.In a message to the United Nations, the protesters appealed to the world body to remember its historic commitments on Jammu and Kashmir and pursue a peaceful resolution consistent with UN principles and resolutions. They questioned whether the international community can credibly speak of human rights, peace and rule of law while political aspirations of Kashmiris remain unresolved.
The demonstrators said there is contradiction between India’s public invocation of peace and Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy and its policies in Jammu and Kashmir. They noted that during his address, Jaishankar cited Gandhi’s principle that “there is no way to peace. Peace is the way”.
The protesters asked whether the same principle should not apply to Kashmir, recalling Gandhi’s remarks concerning Kashmir in July 1947, as reported by The Wire, where Gandhi emphasized that people were real sovereigns and that the ruler was secondary and “the people are everything.”
The protesters posed two questions to the Indian External Affairs Minister. First, if India considers itself conscious of its global responsibilities, how does it reconcile that with the longstanding dispute over Jammu and Kashmir and UN Security Council resolutions? They argued India should address international concern through peaceful dialogue with Pakistan and legitimate Kashmiri leadership.
Second, if Gandhi’s words about peace and importance of people are worthy of invocation before the international community, should those principles not also apply to people of Kashmir?
The protesters called particular attention to cases of Kashmiri political figures whom they regard as political prisoners. Regarding Muhammad Yasin Malik, organizers questioned basis and circumstances of legal proceedings and recalled he had participated in political and diplomatic engagement, including a peace mission to US, UK and Pakistan during Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s government. They called for due process, transparency and independent examination of allegations against all Kashmiri detainees.
The demonstration concluded with an appeal to the UN to uphold principles of peace, human rights and self-determination and work toward a peaceful and durable settlement of Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
Those who spoke included Sardar Sawar Khan, Sardar Imtiaz Gralivi, Sardar Sajid Sawar, Raja Razak Khan, Khalid Awan, Syed Raza Hussain, Amna Taj, Asad Pervez, Mohammad Sabir, Sardar Habib Khan, Riaz Chohan, Jamshed Gujjar, Maqbool Gujjar, Choudhary Ishaq, Farah Sawar, Netallia Taj, Zienum and others.Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, who could not attend as he was participating in a global conference in Kuala Lumpur, said the powerful message conveyed by women and children standing outside UN in drenched clothes has reached the world.
“Their courage, despite heavy rain and strong winds, has made one thing unmistakably clear: Kashmir needs attention of the world, and its people cannot be forgotten,” he said.
