NEW YORK, Oct 29 (APP): Digital mobile advertising trucks were deployed in New York City that called on the United Nations to fulfill its pledge to allow the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their right to self-determination.
The campaign, organized by the World Kashmir Awareness Forum (WKAF) on Kashmir Black Day, reached hundreds of thousands of residents, particularly in the areas around the UN headquarters and the Times Square, amplifying the call for justice for the Kashmiri people who continue to suffer under brutal Indian occupation.
Organizers said the initiative was part of WKAF’s broader campaign to remind the international community of its moral and legal responsibility under the United Nations Security Council resolutions, which guarantee the people of Jammu and Kashmir the right to decide their political future through a free and impartial plebiscite.
The flashing messages included: “End Indian Colonization of Kashmir”; “Hold India Accountable for War Crimes in Kashmir”; “India — Release all political prisoners unconditionally”; “India Involved in Genocide: Kashmiris Demand Plebiscite”; “Indian Forces on Killing Spree: Kashmir Need to Be Set Free”; “Kashmiris Reject Indian Occupation: UN Resolution only Solution”; “UN Resolutions Succinctly State: Kashmir is Not an Indian Protectorate”, and “Stop Indian military & demographic terrorism in Kashmir.”
Speaking n the occasion, Dr. Ghulam N. Mir, President of the World Kashmir Awareness Forum and Executive Producer of a Kashmiri film, ‘Saffron Kingdom’ , said that the purpose of thee mass murder of over 237,000 Muslim of Jammu was carried out in October 1947 by the Patiala Sikh regiment of India and paramilitary gangs of RSS, armed and abetted by the forces of forces of Maharaja Hari Singh, to ethnically cleanse the province of Muslims. All that butchery of hundreds and thousands of Muslims was done under the watchful eyes of Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar V. Patel, and with a wink and nod from Mahatma Gandhi. Lord Mount Batten, the last Viceroy of Britian knew of the bloodletting was going on but did not even bat and eye.
Dr. Mir stressed that by the time, the actual invasion of Jammu and Kasmir was launched on October 27, 1948, it was too little for Kashmiris, the Pakistanis or the United Nations to do much to salvage Kashmiris living in Kashmir. ‘”Now is the responsibility of those living as expats and diaspora to keep waging a peaceful and legitimate struggle to reclaim their God-given rights.
Dr. Imtiaz Khan, a Kashmiri American scholar, said that today marks the 78th anniversary of forcible occupation of Kashmir by Indian forces. Since that time number of resolutions by UN have been adopted that succinctly give the people of Kashmir right to exercise their will via UN monitored plebiscite that will provide them a chance to shape their destiny.
Dr. Khan added that successive Indian governments have thumped the nose of international body and have committed gross human right violations against the people of Kashmir. India has exhibited total disrespect for international laws, norms and legitimate rights of the peace-loving people of the region. A minor spark over the issue can result in major conflagration that can have serious consequences for the human population. It is high time that world community makes a resolve to find a peaceful and acceptable solution to this protracted problem.
Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman of the World Forum for Peace & Justice, said that attempts are made to confine the Kashmir dispute to a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan as if Kashmiris were inconsequential. “This charade of sorts represents an outrageous attempt to restrict discussions of Kashmir, to India and Pakistan to the exclusion of the most important party to the conflict – the people of Kashmir,” he said.
Today, Dr. Fai added this “strikingly ignorant” political strategy has collapsed with the Abrogation of Article 370 & 35 A on August 5, 2019, as it has not achieved any of its desired objectives of bettering relations or resolving Kashmiri aspirations for self-determination.
Other speakers were Raja Mukhtar, national spokesperson of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, North America and main organizer of the event; Sardar Taj Khan, Senior Vice Chairman of the Kashmir Mission, USA and co-organizer of the event; Sardar Taj, a Kashmiri activist; Sardar Sawar Khan, former Advisor to the Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir; Sardar Zarif Khan, Advisor to the President of Azad Kashmir; Advocate Sardar Imtiaz Khan Garalvi; and Sardar Shoaib Irshad, General Secretary of the Kashmir American Welfare Association (KAWA).