“UN urged Iran to release political prisoners amid corona virus spread. As a result, 70,000 prisoners were freed. Yesterday, my mother called me from prison after a long time. She cares about me as though I am in prison and she is free. There have been no precautionary measures taken in response to the corona virus epidemic. The condition of the jail is utterly unhygienic and overpopulated. Foreigners, some of whom have been detained very recently, have been kept in the same barrack as our female political prisoners. No masks allowed, no hand sanitizers allowed. And the fact that they are jailed thousands of miles away from their homes makes all of it more onerous.”

–Kashmiri Ahmed Bin Qasim whose mother & father are both political prisoners

Shoot at sight! Coronavirus India by Mir Suhail Qadiri

Irony is the genre of the oppressed. Mir Laieeq on the formation of a new party of collaborators:

NEW PARTY ON BLOCK AND ITS MANIFESTO IN KASHMIR.
“We have no blood on our hands” but we are dying to have it on our hands too, we appeal people to join this movement.
“We belong to no political dynasty”, but we want to create one for our children.
“We want resolution of Kashmir issue”, but we are not ready for committment and sacrifices the struggle entails.
“Azaadi means many things to many people” but to us it means freedom from 9-5 routine boring jobs and making space for ourselves in the corridors of power.
“We have been to JNU and Harvard” so we know best how to make a big career move. Trust us.
“We have no identity crisis”, but we cannot answer clearly whether we are Indians or not, sometimes we are and sometime we are not depending upon where we are and who we are speaking to.
“Joining IAS was a mistake” but joining full time collaborator politics is akin to doing Haj, it is sacred. Bachoon ki Qasam.
” We want to promote women’s rights” by joining hands with dispensation which has laws where armed forces can rape women in the line of duty.
” We respect armed forces” for professionally committing massacres, mass blinding, tortures, rapes and destroying property.
“We are secular” and we prove it by supporting verses of Quran. By Quran we are secular.
“We are different, vote for us” because we think that many Kashmiris, if not all, are totally stupid and will give us a chance. Khuda ke naam pe EK CHANCE DE DE RE BABA.

–Mir Laieeq’s ironic manifesto for the new Kashmiri party

(Reposted from March 17 2019)

Once again I am remiss in responding to messages. Never take my delayed response as a measure of my respect for you. But also don’t hate me for getting behind

This coronavirus epidemic has only just begun with most of us able to self quarantine in our own homes. But hundreds of thousands of refugees are imperiled by their unsanitary living conditions, high levels of stress, poor nutrition, & lack of healthcare. The same imperilment applies to political prisoners, Syrian, Kashmiri, Palestinian, Iraqi, Afghan, & Uyghur who in addition to the same conditions also sustain physical & psychological torture.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/03/16/syrias-detainees-left-even-more-vulnerable-coronavirus?f

Some on Twitter are objecting to the comparisons made by many Kashmiris & Palestinians between coronavirus quarantines & the lockdowns they sustain under occupation. The comparisons are not made in a glib or cavalier manner at all but include thoughtful analyses to dramatize the particular brutality of political lockdowns which have no measure of voluntary isolating about them & are accompanied by extreme violence against Kashmiris & Palestinians.

In the repressive version of social distancing, China announced today that it will expel journalists from the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, & Washington Post. It also demanded those media as well as the Voice of America & Time magazine ‘provide the Chinese government with detailed information about their operations’. They don’t want any criticisms of the CCP regime to get beyond China’s borders.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/business/media/china-expels-american-journalists.html?

Assadists are praising Eva Bartlett for traveling from Europe to Lebanon & using her special relationship with the Assad dictatorship to dodge coronavirus restrictions at the Syrian border. They mock the coronavirus restrictions as politically motivated hysteria making her a public health risk to all she encounters.

“Message to world: In Kashmir, we are not able to watch any videos of advice from experts, doctors, scientists or media regarding Covid-19. We still do not have high-speed internet. Please talk about it. We are still struggling with 2G Internet on our mobile phones.”

(Tweeted by Rifat @rifatmohidin)

“The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, media executives & journalists for press freedom, today called on the Indian government to end the intimidation & harassment of journalists & to restore full internet & social media access in Jammu & Kashmir.”

Note that this photo of journalists in Srinagar protesting censorship & repression was taken in November 2019 at the height of the lockdown. A million Indian troops & widespread arrests did not intimidate them from public protest.

https://ipi.media/ipi-condemns-massive-press-freedom-restrictions-in-jammu-and-kashmir/?f