In Berlin, Kashmiris to protest 70 years of Indian occupation

LoC will be demolished like East, West Germany demolished Berlin Wall, says Barrister Sultan Mehmood

Kashmiris from across Europe will hold a protest demonstration on October 27 at Berlin Wall to mark the 70^th anniversary of deployment of Indian forces in occupied Kashmir.

After the Partition in 1947, Indian troops landed in disputed Kashmir on October 27, occupying a large part of the Muslim-majority state which wanted accession to the newly formed Pakistan. A flash-point between two nuclear-armed neighbours, the conflict remains one of the oldest pending issues in the United Nations.



The protest, tagged as “Kashmir’s million march” will be led by former prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) AJK chapter president Barrister Sultan Mehmood.

Mehmood has organised three consecutive marches in London, New York and Brussels since 2014. Speaking to media on Berlin’s selection as the fourth venue, the ex-AJK premier said it was selected to express the will of people on both sides of Kashmir that one day they will demolish the Line of Control (LoC) separating them for decades.

“This is our rehearsal to demolish the LoC on the same pattern as people of East and West Germany did by demolishing Berlin Wall” said Mehmood.

Protesters will present a memorandum to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, urging the European Union to help resolve the issue.

“This is a bipartisan event in which overseas chapters of all political parties of AJK would be participating along with representation from overseas originally belonging from Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK),” added Mehmood.

The former AJK premiere also announced that he will attempt to file a petition on October 25 in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Hague against human rights violations by Indian troops in held-Kashmir. The barrister’s request to file a case against India at the ICJ has been previously declined by the latter citing that only member states can file a case. A token protest will be organised outside the ICJ the same day.



“This would be another symbolic attempt,” he told media. “This time we will hold a protest demonstration in Hague to highlight atrocities of Indian forces and gross human rights violations committed by them in IoK.”

Mehmood urged the government of Pakistan to file a case against India in ICJ. He asked if India can file cases of “its citizen who has been caught on spying and sabotage activities then why is the Pakistan authorities not taking up the issue of Indian atrocities in IoK?”