PHOTO: FILE
LAHORE: A number of human rights organisations, including Lahore Left Front (LLF), Aurat March, Joint Action Committee for People’s Rights (JAC) and others, pledged support to Kashmiris in their struggle against the recent wave of brutal aggression on the part of India after the revoking of Article 370. They staged a protest at Liberty Roundabout Gulberg in which a large number of people participated. The protestors held a rally starting from Liberty Roundabout till Hafeez Trade Center on Main Boulevard, Gulberg.
Gender rights activist and columnist Tehreem Azeem was among the protestors. Condemning the brutal suppressing measures that have brought life to a standstill in Indian-Occupied Kashmir, she described her recent interaction with a fellow at a university in China.
Azeem said that Mehrajh Aslam got admitted to the university in China and the administration had sent him a few documents via post. However, he was unable to track down the post because of interruptions in communication, meaning at least one future was put at stake. She added this was one example among the millions of people caged by India.
Azeem demanded an immediate full stop to these ingressions and reiterated Kashmiris’ right of self-determination.
Shirkatgah Director Gulnar Tabbasum, who runs a women’s rights organisation, said the recent crisis had fatally disrupted the domestic life in Kashmir. “Women were the most affected and they have been the real victims. They have been exposed to the worst kind of violence including rape.” She supported the recognition of free-well of Kashmiris to decide their future and also asked for an immediate end to every sort of Indian state aggression. Aurat March member Fatima Razzaq said that Kashmiri women needed freedom more than ever. She also acknowledged and saluted their struggle. “Women have been fighting for their rights for decades and have now come on the roads,” she asserted.
A leader of Jammu and Kashmir National Students Federation (JKNSF), Sheharyar Zulfiqar, condemned firing of a pellet bullet on a six-month old child.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2019.
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