Received an email today from Vuukle about this comment I made on Twitter: “Write that on my tombstone. It’s a proud moment in my life to be accused of opposing Indian colonialism & occupation & supporting the Kashmiri struggle for azaadi.”
Since I had no idea who Vuukle is or why they would be monitoring my comments on Twitter, I googled & learned that ” Vuukle has tied up with Google to help develop a method for publishers to better combat online trolls & derogatory & hateful comments on the online comment sections.” So it’s hate language now to oppose colonialism, military occupation, & genocide? It’s hateful to support the Kashmiri freedom struggle? Color that Modi-speak!
This is a very gruesome photo of a young Kashmiri girl hit with pellet munitions in the 2016 crackdown on protests. She was not a protester. Believe it or not, this is not the most gruesome photo of the hundreds of photos taken, mostly of young people whose lives are forever changed. Some images, some pellet injuries are unbearable to look at. Some will never recover from the injuries because the lead pellets cannot be removed from internal organs. Some will be blinded & disabled all their lives because they cannot afford the multiple surgeries required.
It’s important for us to post these images now to campaign against India’s use of pellet munitions on unarmed protesters. That is made imperative now that an Indian journalist reports hospitals in Kashmir are forced to turn away pellet injury victims so the casualty rates won’t be recorded to make the Indian Army look bad.
Kashmiri Gothic: this ironic protest against pellet munitions almost seems too restrained now that we hear an Indian journalist in Kashmir report that hospitals are forced to turn away pellet injury victims so casualty rates will not be recorded. We know from the frequent protests of Kashmiri doctors & medical staff against pellet munitions that they would never turn away someone with pellet injuries. This monstrous act is entirely the responsibility of the Modi regime & Indian occupying army.
(This is based on the painting titled “American Gothic” by Grant Wood)
This is a report from Kashmir on Indian media by a young journalist who was there. The whole interview is worth listening to but at 3:20 she begins talking about pellet gun injuries in Kashmir. She claims that hospitals, almost certainly under orders from the Indian Army, are not admitting pellet injury victims so as not to record casualties. Consider the barbarism of turning away those pummeled with pellets. Does anyone still feel reticent about calling this a genocide?
Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a weak-kneed statement on India’s onslaught against Kashmir titled “India Needs to Step Back in Kashmir”–to which Stand With Kashmir responded “India needs to go back from Kashmir.”
In the statement, HRW says there are “exceptional circumstances” that “allow governments to temporarily suspend some rights.” Will HRW tell us which ‘exceptional circumstances’ in Kashmir allow India to set curfews, lock down the whole population, close schools, shut down mosques, shoot pellet guns & rubber bullets at unarmed protesters, cut off all telecommunications? Don’t equivocate, HRW! Take an uncompromising human rights stand & denounce India for this treachery & criminality.
Nationalist Indian media ANI posted a video of Kashmiris in Srinagar’s Sher-i-Kashmir stadium practicing traditional dances in preparation for India’s Independence Day on August 15th. It’s just like the videos China posts from Uyghur concentration camps trying to make cultural genocide look like Happy Valley. What are the odds that Kashmiris will be out dancing in the streets over India’s independence? Indian propagandists make a mockery of our intelligence & the Kashmiri struggle for self-determination.
Never mistake my wall for a hating place. When we talk about Zionism or Hindutva ideology, we are not talking about Jews or Indians. We’re talking about hateful, rightwing ideologies to justify oppression, war, genocide that Jewish & Indian activists take the lead in exposing & opposing. If you think for one moment that this is the time & place to vent your irrational antipathies toward Jews, Indians, or anyone else, think again because I will block your ass faster than you can say ‘boo’.
Tell me this is not the power of solidarity! A Rohingya activist (my friend on Facebook) in Canada has been asked to speak at a #StandWithKashmir rally. The struggles of Kashmiris, Palestinians, Rohingya, Uyghur, Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis, Yemenis, Somalis, Sudanese, refugees, oppressed castes, & so many others are not at odds with each other but of a piece. There is political power in unity of action.
