A 'less familiar’ story about Kashmir with familiar faces

Over the past few weeks Indian Kashmir has been the subject of a fierce tug-of-war between the Indian forces and civilians following the killing of pro-independence leader Burhan Wani. Thus far, close to 45 people have lost their lives and over 2,000 have been critically injured. Even though many in Pakistan, including our very own controversy king Hamza Ali Abbasi, have taken it upon themselves to highlight the on-going problem, most on the other side of the border have kept mum on the issue – including the social media giant Facebook which has been ‘censoring’ all Kashmir-related posts.

PHOTO: FACEBOOK

In the wake of Facebook silencing voices on Kashmir, Pakistan’s human rights activist Jibran Nasir has targeted the social media mogul and renowned Indians to capture their attention and demand justice for victims. Through the social welfare page ‘Never Forget Pakistan’, which was created after the brutal attack on Army Public School in Peshawar killing over 144 children in 2014, Nasir has launched a  photo campaign titled ‘What if you knew the Victim? #IndiaCantSee’ to sensitise masses in a creative way. The photo-series highlights the debilitating stories of pellet victims by editing the faces of celebrities and politicians – known otherwise to voice their opinion on global platforms – to resemble the victims’.

PHOTO: FACEBOOK



“Unlike Pakistan, India has cultural icons who people listen to,” says Nasir. “We have used that to further the cause of Kashmir by relating stories with a picture for people to take notice,” he adds. Nasir also says that it is quite shameful that it took four weeks for the government of Pakistan to take notice of this.

PHOTO: FACEBOOK

Nasir, with help from Murtaza Abbas and Batool Aqeel who created the artwork, has initiated the campaign to show solidarity with Kashmir. Before publishing the album on the Facebook page, Nasir also ran it through activists and journalists in Kashmir to make sure it doesn’t undermine their protest in any way. “It isn’t about getting shares or likes through the campaign but to make sure it amplifies the atrocity, and if Facebook decides to take it down, it will only create more outrage for them,” says Nasir.

In case the campaign is deleted from the Facebook page, you can read about it here:

PHOTO: FACEBOOK

You know these faces. Does that make the tragedies more important? The stories in the letters are real. The names signed under the letter are real. Just the victim you see in the picture is not real. But do you care what the profile of the victim is for you to sympathise and empathise with them? For you to speak for them? Why do we need to glamourise a tragedy in order for people to pay attention? Have we all become that numb?

PHOTO: FACEBOOK



This campaign is designed to highlight the atrocities and abuses carried out by the Indian Armed forces and police who enjoy complete immunity under the Armed Forced Special Powers Act which has made a mockery of India's claim to be a secular democracy. Scores have been blinded, several killed and hundreds injured by what India describes as a "non-lethal" weapon ie the pellet gun. We condemn and lament the criminal silence and inaction of the Indian Government and Cultural icons of India. Furthermore we strongly condemn the pick and choose policy of Facebook which conveniently censors posts highlighting the plight of Kashmiris and later excuses itself by calling the censorship a "mistake".