Kashmiri Americans stand up against Indian occupation of Occupied Kashmir
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UNITED NATIONS, Feb 6 (APP): Raising vociferous slogans and waving placards of "India: Out of Kashmir", hundreds of Kashmiri-Americans
Sunday staged a demonstration in front of the Indian Missions to the
United Nations in New York to protest against the killing of their
brethren in occupied Kashmir and calling on the UN to implements its resolutions on the longstanding dispute.
Joining the rally on a hot and humid day were a large number of
Sikhs demanding self-determination for the Sikhs in Indian Punjab as
well as for the Kashmiri people.
Organized by the Kashmir American Council, all Kashmiri parties
based in New York and the surrounding areas came together to condemn
the killing of popular Kashmiri youth leader Burhan Wani last week that triggered protests across the occupied state.
Resorting to brutal tactics, Indian security forces have killed
over 40 Kashmiri civilians and wounding more than 1,500. Curfew has
been imposed and 'shoot-at-sight' orders given to the occupation forces
to deal with violators.
"Kashmiri Lives Matter," "We Want Freedom From India", "Wake Up,
Wake Up--UN", "Kashmir: Nuclear Flashpoint" and "India: End Bloodshed"
were some of the placards the protesters were holding.
Speakers at the rally strongly condemned the killing spree in the
Indian occupied Kashmir, a UN-recognized territory, and called on the
world powers and the United Nations to use their influence on India to
the stop the genocide. They also voiced grave concern over the
shut down of media offices in Kashmir and cutting off all
communication links with the state, saying it was a grave violation of
human rights and freedom of information.
Among the speakers were prominent Kashmiri leaders like Ghulam
Nabi Fai, Capt (r) Shaheen Butt and Sardar Sawar Khan, a former member
of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council. They called on India to vacate its aggression in Kashmir and allow the Kashmiri people to decide their
future in order to pave the way for peace and stability in the sub-continent.
"There can be no peace in the region with the resolution of
Kashmir dispute," Fai said.
Shaheen Butt said that India had turned Kashmir into a big prison
and its people were being held incommunicado.
Sawar Khan called for implementing UN resolutions on Kashmir,
saying their struggle for freedom would not stop until the resolution
of decades-old dispute.
The peaceful demonstration lasted three hours.
