Stories from the occupation of Kashmir:

https://www.mangobaaz.com/13-heart-wrenching-experiences-of-kashmiris-who-are-still-affected-by-the-kashmir-blackout?utm_source=urlshare&

Navajo artist Remy, with the help of the Red Nation-Santa Fe, restored the Palestine Murals that had been vandalized. Haseeb Rahman recently visited the murals in Santa Fe with his wife & two young daughters & posted photos of his girls with them. Last month the owner of the wall where the several murals are pasted was ordered by city officials to remove them alleging that they violated city codes. The order is under appeal by the owner.

A local Zionist leader, combining Zionist falsification of history with insulting Native Americans, claimed Remy does not understand colonialism, that the comparison with Native American struggles in the US is “unfortunate propaganda” & “not factually correct” because Jews are Indigenous to Palestine. The Red Nation-Santa Fe responded with a statement in solidarity with Palestinians & with Remy, saying: “This is Tewa land. You are colonizers on Native Land, here & in Palestine.” Remy responded: “There were a lot of connections we were making in terms of our indigenous struggles….To the racists who tried to destroy the images of indigenous struggle while living on stolen Tewa land: this was never about a single wall in your bourgeoise, upper class, institutional art city. Our resistance is global, therefore, so are we.”

Yesterday, February 15th, the Red Nation-Santa Fe held a ‘Resist Them’ rally in Santa Fe in solidarity with Palestinians & to protest the city order to remove the murals.

Resist Them, My People rally in Santa Fe, February 15th, 2020:

At least 10 Syrians fleeing Syrian & Russian bombing have died due to sub-zero temperatures in Idlib & IDP tents not fitted for the cold. That includes a family who died of hypothermia, a little girl trying to get medical care, a four-month-old infant, & a family who suffocated in their IDP tent trying to stay warm. This is what Assadists & Stalinists are heralding as the triumph of Assad over US imperialism.

Demand the immediate cessation of bombing & the immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all foreign military forces & mercenaries from Syria.

(Photo via Syrian Coalition)

And doesn’t this sum up the spirit of Kashmiris!?

India can try to cut off communications & silence Kashmiri voices again. But as we learned from Kashmiris when they emerged from six months of lockdown, India cannot humiliate nor crush the spirit of ‘azadi’. Nor will they silence our voices to expose their fascism & #StandWithKashmir.

The last lockdown internationalized the struggle of Kashmiris with chants of ‘azadi’ thundering in protests around the world. If there is another lockdown, we will build on that momentum. India cannot lock down all of us.

Here’s the news report about VPNs being blocked in Kashmir. If the tech-savvy young of Kashmir cannot find a way to circumvent this firewall, then we will redouble our efforts to build an international solidarity movement to amplify Kashmiri voices of resistance.

#KashmirisWillNotBeSilenced
#StandWithKashmir

“No more VPNs in Kashmir as telecom companies finally succeed to install firewall

Srinagar, Feb 15 (KNO): Netizens in Kashmir won’t be able to access social media sites any more as the mobile companies—Airtel, Jio and others have successfully installed firewalls that blocks Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

According to wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), after the authorities in Kashmir restored 2 G, people downloaded VPNs on their mobile phones to access the social sites that include WhatsApp, Youtube and Facebook etc. However, with the installation of firewalls by the mobile companies especially Jio and Airtel, people won’t be able to access the social sites anymore in Kashmir.

In Kashmir, there has been a search interest in VPN applications by the people after the government recently allowed access to only 482 “whitelisted” websites almost after six months of internet shutdown. The popular social media sites like Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other social media apps were inaccessible but through VPNs, people were able to access these sites easily.

Since August last year, internet, mobile phone, and landline services in Jammu and Kashmir have been shut down after the government’s decision of abrogation of article 370 in Kashmir.

While talking with KNO, a netizen said “WhatsApp is not only a social media app used by a huge chunk of Kashmiri people to stay connected with friends, relatives etc.”

Director General of Police (J&K), Dilbagh Singh had recently stated that VPNs were being misused by the militants and had urged the private telecom companies to walk an extra mile to ensure that VPNs are blocked. “It took us a two weeks to establish a firewall and finally we succeeded,” an official in the Jio Company told KNO. Similarly, Airtel also followed suit. (KNO)”

A Kashmiri friend sent me a news report that telecom companies have collaborated with the Indian government & installed firewalls against VPNs. Is that true? Are we again cut off from Kashmiris?

Happy Valentine’s Day Kashmir, by Mir Suhail Qadiri

#thekiss by #klimt
#happyvalentinesday

By political artist Mir Suhail Qadiri