Emergency vigil for Kashmir in London tomorrow.
In response to their expressions of fear & anxiety about this siege, I am quite overwhelmed with fear for Kashmiris. We will do our very best to educate about your struggle & to oppose the Indian occupation. We know that despite the fears & dangers you face, in the long run ‘azaadi is inevitable’, as Mir Laieeq has said. But the price you are paying for freedom scares the hell out of us.
“Respect for the army is the root cause of the rise of fascism. Failure of the Indian masses to stand with Kashmiri people against the occupying military forces has made them incapable of defending themselves from Hindu fascism, if it hasn’t turned them into its walking-talking-killing tools.”
–Indian activist Satyadeep Satya
“My prayers for all my Kashmiri friends…..may Allah protect you all.”
–Rollie Mukherjee
A moving video tribute to the Syrian Arab Spring & message of solidarity from Kashmiri students with the Syrians of Aleppo being routed by Syrian & Russian bombers in December 2016.
As we think about the ways we can stand with Kashmiris during this violent siege, we should keep in mind that despite pellet guns & all the other threats they face from the occupying Indian Army, they have long stood in public protests & rallies with Palestinians, Rohingya, Syrians, Central Africans, little Asifa. They are playing a leading international role in the fight against forcible disappearance & the use of rape as a weapon of war. They have taught us the long-forgotten ways of solidarity & it is time to respect them in kind.
Kashmiri activists are asking us to show red in solidarity. They are also expressing immense anxiety about the current siege. Showing red is a public way to put India on notice that human rights activists around the world are standing with Kashmiris against the Indian occupation.
According to J&K state officials, the internet will be snapped (it reportedly already is in large parts of Kashmir), mobile phone service will be cut off, schools will be closed, protests will be banned, curfews are being imposed, activists & independence leaders will be arrested. The intention, of course, is an information blackout to prevent the world from knowing what human rights crimes India is committing against the Kashmiri people. Mir Laieeq says Kashmiris are facing an “existential threat.”
If solidarity means anything, it means that we must stand with Kashmiris during this merciless siege, pursue every avenue to obtain accurate information, educate about their struggle, organize rallies where we can, continue to expose the occupation & demand the immediate, unconditional withdrawal of Indian troops.
Our fullest solidarity with Kashmiris in word & in deed as they stand on the front lines of oppression. We cannot let them stand alone.
Did you know that according to Assadist hacks we’re living in an era of “manufactured McCarthyite hysteria” against Putin & Russia? But what about Russia arming & defending the genocide of Rohingya Muslims? What about nearly three years of Russia testing barrel & high-tech bombs on Syrians? What about Putin’s massive repression of democratic rights & protests in Russia? What about its intervention in the Ukraine? What’s so ‘manufactured’ about all that? Where’s the hysteria when there hasn’t been a single protest outside Russia against its war, human rights, & genocide crimes?