Media watchdog One Free Press Coalition just included Kashmiri photojournalist Masrat Zahra in its June list of the ten most urgent cases of journalists under attack. Coming only a month after two other Kashmiri photojournalists were awarded the Pulitzer, hopefully this will provide them some protection from the Indian Army even though it will incite Indian propagandists to higher volumes of vituperation. Kashmiri journalists should be recognized for their extraordinary courage in reporting under occupation & we must raise our voices to defend them.
Article on the inclusion of Masrat Zahra: https://www.telegraphindia.com/…/kashmiri…/cid/1777947
(Photo of Masrat Zahra)
This story about Owais Ahmad will break your heart. The little 9-year-old was hit (likely targeted) by pellets in his eye during a search & seizure operation in his town in the Pulwama district of Kashmir on May 22nd. He’s already had one operation & faces at least two more. He’s a depressed, sad little guy because he’s scared & has developed behavioral issues like loosing his appetite & becoming short-tempered. His mom & dad need help in paying for his surgeries. It’s regrettable that India will not allow anyone outside Kashmir to assist them financially but if any in Kashmir can help them, please try to contact them.
Stand with little Owais & demand the immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all Indian forces from Kashmir.
This writer doesn’t really answer the question of why police brutality in India does not provoke public outrage like the George Floyd civil rights protests in the US & it’s an extremely important question since there is also no anti-colonial movement after 72. years of brutal colonialism in Kashmir. Since liberals & socialists are the backbone of most progressive social movements, we need to look at why liberals & massive socialist & communist parties in India not only do not organize an anti-colonial movement but support the occupation.
Calling civil rights protesters ‘domestic terrorists’, Trump announced he is deploying ‘thousands & thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel, & law-enforcement officers to stop the rioting’. Due partially to elections, the political movements in the US have been quiescent. But Trump should not mistake that for indifference to his abuse & violations of the US Bill of Rights, the only worthwhile part of the entire US Constitution. Unfortunately, Black leadership is hogtied to the Democratic Party & will urge Blacks & their supporters to vote lesser evil to counter Trump. But what is needed is internationally coordinated, massive civil rights protests like the Women’s Marches that can counter our power to that of the US military. That is the only political force that will effectively counter Trump’s move toward totalitarian rule.
Pit Bull Brahmin nationalist Aarti Tikoo Singh tweeted this petulant & pathetic post linking George Floyd protesters to Kashmiris: “Jihadi stone-pelters in Kashmir have finally made it! Inspired by THE award-winning pictures, now their Antifa buddies are pelting stones on security forces even outside the White House. Next year, please give Pulitzer to photographers for the best pictures on RIOTING in DC.”
Guess those Pulitzer awards to Kashmiri photojournalists really got her goat for exposing the occupation with such direct & honest power. Many Kashmiris who were/are under lockdown will not remember her testimony at the US Congressional hearings on Kashmir in October 2019 where she presumed to ‘speak for the people of Kashmir’, cynically defended the occupation using human rights language, & linked the Kashmiri struggle against colonialism & occupation with ‘Pakistani-sponsored terrorism’. Unfortunately for her, she shared the panel with Kashmiri scholar Nitasha Kaul & Indian scholar Angana Chatterji who is an uncompromising supporter of Kashmiri freedom. Counterposing Indian propaganda to the cogent testimonies of Kaul & Chatterji was a blunder. Singh made such a shabby showing at the presentations that she later denounced them as “prejudiced, biased, a setup against India & in favor of Pakistan”.
What is important about her recent tweet is its tacit acknowledgement that Kashmiris now play an international role in the struggle against racism & colonialism & also her racist association of civil rights protesters in the US with terrorism. She sounds like Trump. A journalist (so-called) of so little restraint doesn’t serve Indian propaganda very well, especially when it has so little to work with to justify colonialism in Kashmir & the persecution of Muslims in India.
This photo is a masked Kashmiri stone pelter at a protest in Srinagar on May 31, 2019, just a couple months before the complete lockdown of Kashmir on August 5th, 2019. It is part of the series by Dar Yasin which won the Pulitzer. Singh is right in one regard: the Kashmiri protester does exhibit the same courage as civil rights protesters in the US & is an inspiration to the oppressed around the world.
US Congressional hearings on Kashmir, October, 2019:
Several Kashmiris have referred to Naseema Akhtar as an ‘old woman’. Be careful who you call old. She looks like a kid to me since I am likely decades older.
The repression of Kashmiri media is aggressive but it has not been able to silence Kashmiri voices. India isn’t the first regime to attempt the destruction of independent journalism. Samizdat writing is one way Russian dissidents eluded the Stalinist censors. Citizen journalism on social media is a way Kashmiris, Palestinians, Rohingya, & Uyghur have attempted to elude censorship–only to sustain censorship by social media. Human beings fighting for freedom have always invented ways to outwit the censors & given their immense courage & creativity, Kashmiris will forge new paths in that regard.
We should certainly use Biden’s statement about Kashmir to the advantage of the Kashmiri freedom struggle but it’s an election year & he is fishing for votes among Muslims. His commitment to Kashmiri freedom is as meaningless as his ardent support for Israeli colonialism & his portrayal of Palestinians as terrorists. His primary commitment is to US trade & military contracts with India. Lesser evil voting should not make fools of us.
