There has been a campaign on social media by Kashmiri activists to raise money for a man named Nazir Ahmad Sheikh, a 50-year-old bus driver who was forced to beg when he lost his job due to the lockdown last year. He needs the money for food & medicine, including for his young child who is paralyzed. Other Kashmiris who saw his plight set up video appeals from him soliciting donations & the campaign was quite successful, raising 4 lakh rupees in the first 24 hours. But now Nazir reports that his bank account with the donations has been seized by authorities. Kashmiris are not even allowed to help each other survive & if that isn’t genocide, then what is it?
There may not be a lot most of us can do to help Nazir & his family. Local Kashmiris will likely find a way. But we can publicize what is happening to him to show the brutal, genocidal character of the occupation.
(The photo is Nazir & his paralyzed child.)
