Kashmir freedom the battle cry of a flash mob

Mushaal Mullick points out the critical humanitarian crisis in disputed Himalayan territory

ISLAMABAD: Shoppers and visitors to a local mall in the federal capital were taken aback as scores of university students suddenly came together in the main atrium of the shopping galleria and enacted choreographed moves to raise the issue of Kashmir freedom.

The performance, by students of local universities, represented the indigenous freedom movement of the people of the disputed Himalayan territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the disproportionate use of force against unarmed Kashmiri residents by India’s army and paramilitary troops and the 46 day-long curfew in the scenic valley. The performance also had an exposition of the use of pellet guns by Indian forces which have blinded several protestors during the renewed uprising.

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At the end of the ‘flash mob’ Mushaal Mullick, the wife of jailed Kashmiri freedom movement leader Yasin Malik, called upon the people of Pakistan – in the country and across the globe – to launch an aggressive peaceful movement.

The purpose of the movement, she explained, was to make the world community aware of the atrocities being committed against helpless Kashmiris inside Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) by, what she termed, was the fascist Modi government.

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Mullick deplored the silence and hypocrisy of world leaders, especially the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), in condemning the illegal Indian occupation of Kashmir and the disproportionate use of force and atrocities being committed against the resisting native population of the province. Since August 5, when India abolished the special semiautonomous status of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, enforcing a curfew and locking down every nook and corner of the Valley, the local population is facing a severe humanitarian crisis and, Mullick said, adding that now, more people have died due to lack of food and absence of critical lifesaving medicines than in the street clashes between unarmed protestors and the Indian security forces.

She added that despite the critical situation, New Delhi was not even allowing international organizations such as ICRC by the fascist Indian regime to help the Kashmiris suffering extreme hardship and pain.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2019.