Perhaps some think I should concentrate writing only about Syria or only Kashmir or Palestine or Afghanistan or the Rohingya struggle. But those struggles are all of a piece, yoked in the stranglehold of war, occupation, genocide by militarism under the battle cry of Islamic terrorism. Rebuilding the bonds of active & powerful international solidarity includes & strengthens all of those struggles. No freedom struggle is at odds with another.

The latest information from the Indian army’s rampage in the Shopian district of Kashmir is that seven young men have been killed & three are missing, possibly forcibly disappeared. But accurate information is difficult to obtain since India has snapped the internet in several districts & slowed it to a crawl in the rest of Kashmir. When Kashmiris know what is happening & who have been killed or disappeared, they will let us know. In the meanwhile, we must stand with them & help tell the world what the Indian government is trying to hide: the steady sustained slaughter of civilians in Kashmir under military occupation.

All Kashmiris are now designated “Over-Ground Workers” (OGWs) against India’s military occupation. The Indian military has adopted this new term to justify killing unarmed Kashmiri civilians. Steady sustained slaughter of Kashmiris continues at the hands of the Indian army.

Stand with Kashmiris in demanding the end of the murderous occupation, especially since India is trying to silence their voices by shutting down the internet.

Stand with Kashmiris against the extreme violence of occupation. Accurate information is difficult to get since India has snapped the internet in districts where they are on a rampage. Demand the end of occupation & the right of self-determination for the Kashmiri people.

#Azadi

(Drawing from Nazir Ahmad)

“Kashmir is a conquest! Killing is the game.

– Count and subtract.”

–Zafar Iqbal

Does Gary Oldman winning the Oscar for playing Churchill in “The Darkest Hour” mean we’re supposed to forget what a racist colonialist war criminal he was? Oldman is indeed a great actor but the award was of a piece with the Oscar tribute to movies glorifying US wars.

Kashmiri friends are telling me that the occupying army in the Shopian district actually executed six people, not four as has been reported. Those who lost their lives so barbarously should be properly identified & honored. Tomorrow I will get a clearer understanding of what happened as well as the names of those young men so that we may eulogize them as befits their lives. Thank you to Kashmiri friends for insistence on that.

Antiwar & socialist activists I’ve organized & marched with for over 50 years have not uttered one word against Syrian & Russian bombing of civilians in Eastern Ghouta. Because they support it. But then, despite their US regime change rhetoric, neither did they write a peep of protest about US bombing of civilians in Mosul or Raqqa. Nor for that matter have most of them ever had much to say about the Arab Spring uprisings, the occupations of Kashmir & Palestine, the genocide against the Rohingya people, or the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, & Libya. It’s not exaggeration to say that when political activists begin to fall apart, the first thing to go is a commitment to oppressed humanity whoever they are, wherever they live & instead a preoccupation with trade union activities within their national borders. It’s an iron law of political degeneration.

Rest In Peace Suhail Khalil Wagay, Mohd Shahid Khan, Shahnawaz Ahmad Wagay–three civilian men riding in a car who were shot dead by Indian occupying forces in Shopian, Kashmir. Rest In Peace Shahid Ahmed Dar, a militant also executed in Shopian.

Indian army officials will claim the deaths of these young men was another case of stray bullets but we know that terrorizing unarmed civilians is part & parcel of military occupation which includes what Ather Zia calls “targeted stray bullets,” forcible disappearance, arbitrary detention, pellet guns, tear gas, & live ammo against protesters, torture, rape, mass graves. Children & civilians injured, disabled, disfigured, & killed are not accidental but the intended targets.

Stand with the people of Kashmir & demand the end of occupation & self-determination for Kashmir.

The man in the top photo is Suhail Khalil Wagay; the young man in the black jacket on the left is Mohd Shahid Khan; the man on the right in the green sweater is Shahnawaz Ahmad Wagay. They were the three young men riding in a car. The bottom photo is Shahid Ahmed Dar.

They hurled stones at us and we fired in self defense
#SelfdefenceTheory

They were killed during crossfiring
#crossfiringTheory

They were killed mistakenly and we apologise for the murder
#MistakenIdentityTheory

Now
They were OGWs, they were at wrong place #OGWtheory

Kill Kashmiris with impunity and justify your actions on the basis of these theories, After all Kashmiris are the expendables and you are accountable for none.
#ShopianbloodBath

–by Kashmiri ‎Sheikh Suhail‎