‘
Erlangen, Germany #StandWithKashmir rally, September 22nd, 2019.
Monthly Archives: September 2019
Palo Alto, California #StandWithKashmir rally, September 22nd, 2019.
“If you feel pain, you’re alive.
If you feel other’s pain, you’re human.
#Kashmir”
–Ravi Kumar
It’s certain that many of us are feeling drained & overwhelmed by now 50 days of campaigning for Kashmir. It’s like the trauma we felt witnessing Israel’s seven-week bombing siege of Gaza in 2014 or months of the Rohingya genocide in 2017 & the ongoing murderous bombing of Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan. It is exhausting work because we have to look genocide in the face & human beings, other than psychos & genocidaires, aren’t made that way. Feeling overwhelmed doesn’t mean you’re withdrawing from the work but that you need a respite to reenergize. If you always keep in mind that there is no possibility of respite for Kashmiris, Palestinians, Rohingya, & those sustaining bombing wars, then you keep your bearings. Don’t ever work beyond your limits or you will end up getting sick. Just take occasional spins around the block to a concert or a movie. It’s like coming up for fresh air & reminds us of what a wonderful world this could be. Then get back to the work. Amen.
NYC #StandWithKashmir rally at UN on Friday, September 27th, 2019.
All criminally stupid hopes for Trump’s mediation between India & Pakistan over Kashmir (as if Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination against Indian colonial occupation were an incidental) have just been savaged by his declaration of unity with India in fighting “radical Islamic terrorism” in Kashmir. That’s the approach the US (& eventually those countries who have stood silent on the siege) are going to take to justify & support genocide in Kashmir. It is deeply troubling & outright terrifying what is in store for our brothers & sisters in Kashmir if we do not sustain our campaigns & seriously build boycott India. We are looking at an Idlib scenario, an Arakan state, Gaza & West Bank scenario.
‘Radical Islamic terrorism’ does not exist in Kashmir but if required India & its allies will make sure they import it. Our work is absolutely vital & must remain consistent, massive, unrelenting. That is not alarmism speaking but Muslim experience in war, occupation, genocide under the guise of the ‘war on terror’.
156 of my friends ‘like’ the Facebook wall “Shankh Naad” which is openly calling for genocide of Kashmiri Muslims so that Hindutvavadis can take over Kashmir. Reading their posts, including a video of Trump at the Howdy Modi rally calling for a war against terrorism in Kashmir, is like descending into the bowels of hell. Most probably didn’t know the group’s politics were fascist when they liked them so check if you’re among the 156. People identify liking with approval & I know none of my friends have affinities with fascism.
Adios Modi counter-protest, Houston on September 22 , 2019
Another extremely disturbing report from occupied Kashmir.