Kashmir’s plight echoes on Sindh's streets

HYDERABAD:

The streets resounded with slogans expressing solidarity with the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and condemning the prolonged curfew in the valley, as scores turned out to mark Youm-e-Istehsal [Kashmir Siege Day] on Wednesday.

In Karachi, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's actions "were tearing [his] country apart," and urged the international community to take notice of the prolonged plight of Kashmiris who had been subjected to worst atrocities at the hands of Indian forces.

Addressing a congregation at 'Azadi-e-Kashmir Rally', organised by the World Kashmir Forum (WKF) in Karachi, the governor said that the new map of Pakistan unveiled by Prime Minister Imran Khan was "not a political stunt, but a reality."

Criticising human rights organisations for "only paying lip service" on the matter of Kashmir, Ismail stressed that the world now needed to wake up to the reality of IIOJK, which had long been struggling in isolation, and show at least minimal empathy for its people's plight rather than just paying lip service.

Also speaking on the occasion, WKF chairperson Haji Rafiq Pardesi vowed to take up the issue of Kashmir with the Human Rights (HR) Council in Geneva and appealed to citizens to sign the petition on the matter. He added that they would also approach the Organisation of Islamic Conference regarding Kashmir.

A history of atrocities

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, too, addressed the rally, saying, "Indian atrocities against the people of Kashmir go as far back as the Pakistan Movement," adding Muhammad Ali Jinnah had even raised the issue of brutalities against Kashmiris during 1946 elections. The CM added that at the time of Independence, it was decided that Muslim majority areas would accede to Pakistan, but India illegally occupied Kashmir.

"Since then, Kashmir's people have been struggling against its illegal occupation," he said. "And the state-sponsored terrorism has escalated, not just against the people of Kashmir but Muslims in India too, since Modi came into power."

The CM lauded the people of IIOJK for not losing their spirit even in the face of "the longest curfew in human history."

Hope for freedom

Meanwhile, the Youm-e-Istehsal Kashmir Train March, aboard the 'Srinagar Express,' set off Karachi Cantonment Station to Sukkur, amid slogans slamming the Indian government's barbarism and occupation of the IIOJK.

Talking to the media after bidding the train march farewell, the governor said the occasion marked the uniting of Pakistanis against the Indian curfew imposed in Kashmir a year ago, because they knew India was violating all human rights and values in IIOJK.

The governor also urged the UN to resolve the Kashmir dispute in line with its resolution.

Deeming the new map unveiled by the PM "a warning for India," the governor added, "I am saying with complete faith that the end of the dark night of [Indian] tyranny is near."

Laying bare the savagery

Speaking to the media during the train march at Hyderabad Railway Station, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA Haleem Adil Sheikh lambasted the Indian government for its "forced annexation of the Kashmir valley and gross violation of human rights."

The MPA counted that over the past year, 13,582 people in IIOJK had been illegally arrested, 1,331 subjected to "inhumane torture", numerous shot in incidents of extrajudicial killings, over 6,000 unmarked graves of those killed by Indian forces discovered, over 1,000 women in IIOJK raped, over 1,000 houses and shops set ablaze, more than 144,500 people rendered jobless due to a curfew and scores blinded by pellet guns.

Expressing solidarity

Separately, Pak Sarzameen Party leader Mustafa Kamal said Pakistanis and Kashmiris were inseparable. "We will stand shoulder to shoulder with them till our last breath." He called for taking practical steps to end IIOJK’s plight, assuring that his party would support any step taken by the government in this regard.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 6^th, 2020.