{"id":31217,"date":"2019-10-31T13:00:15","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T13:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=31217"},"modified":"2019-10-31T13:00:15","modified_gmt":"2019-10-31T13:00:15","slug":"kashmirian-human-rights-violation-in-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/kashmirian-human-rights-violation-in-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds roar for Kashmiri&#8217;s freedom on the streets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"#FreeKashmir solidarity rally in London\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZuXWAzCcKq0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/kashmir-solidarity-rally-take-to-the-streets-of-london\/\"><strong>Kashmir solidarity rally takes to the streets of London<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cOnly one reason. People are suffering. It\u2019s terrible.\u201d Mo Naved Ali, in his late 50s, said with a quivering voice, a few drops of tear under his eyes. As a Kashmiris himself, the brutality of what\u2019s happening in Kashmir is unbearable to him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On 27 October, hundreds of Kashmiris and Pakistanis assembled at Parliament Street to demand a governmental action for the Kashmiris conflict. The day for a rally meant a lot to protesters. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2018<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">27 October<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2019<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is the day when India has forcibly taken over Kashmir in 1947 which marked it as \u2018dark\u2019 time to then Kashmiris. It aches them after all these years to name it as the \u2018Black Day\u2019. Ironically, 27 October means something different to Indians; it\u2019s the day of Diwali, a festival of lights, one of the biggest annual fairs in their calendar. What is \u2018celebration\u2019 to one, is to others a \u2018fight\u2019 for human right.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_31221\" style=\"width: 427px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31221\" class=\"wp-image-31221\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2019\/10\/Jammu-Kashmir-map.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"417\" height=\"328\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-31221\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credits to: William Baulch from Foreign Brief<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cKashmir is an unresolved agenda of the subcontinent. When the subcontinent was divided into two countries, India and Pakistan, the people of Kashmir were promised that they will be given choices on whether they want to stay with Pakistan or with India. But until today, this promise has not been fulfilled.\u201d, said Professor Salim Ahktar, 52. When the question, \u201cWhat is this protest about?\u201d, was dropped to the crowd, everyone finger-pointed Professor Ahktar to come forward and speak for them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As Professor Ahktar said, Kashmir is a region located at the northernmost end of India and parted between Pakistan, India and China. Just after the liberation of Pakistan and India from the British rule in August 1947, it was quite obvious that Kashmir would belong to Pakistan as the majority of locals were Muslims. Yet, storm loomed while they slept. Then Maharaja &#8211; the \u2018great leader\u2019 &#8211; planned to accede Kashmir to India through an illegitimate route which gave a room for India to airlift its troops over Kashmir valley. \u201cThey physically entered Kashmir,\u201d Professor Ahktar added. It\u2019s certainly a very conflicted area between three nations &#8211; particularly between Pakistan and India &#8211; but, the real problem came when India initiated a critical action.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">India \u2018revoked the special status\u2019 on 4 August. What does this mean really? The Indian government has decided to abolish<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2019\/08\/kashmir-special-status-explained-articles-370-35a-190805054643431.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Article 370 and 35A<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from its constitution which has been granting Kashmir a special right to keep its legal and regional autonomy up until today. \u201cI just feel that India and Kashmir \u2018had an agreement\u2019 (making an emphasis), and India broke it,\u201d said Pavin Abdullah, 57, a Pakistani protester.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Due to the Indian government\u2019s bombshell, Kashmiris stood up &#8211; violently &#8211; to take back their rights and establish themselves as a free nation. The hostility amid Kashmiri rebels grew out of control; causing casualty; India pulled out a joker- military force.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_31223\" style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31223\" class=\"wp-image-31223\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2019\/10\/57cbfb1b5c169-1024x614.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"440\" height=\"264\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-31223\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pellet gun victim scarred for the rest of his life; Ahmer Khan<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThey\u2019ve imposed a curfew and people are limited to their own houses inside, they can\u2019t go out. The schools and colleges, all the establishments are closed, it\u2019s almost like marshall law. So again, this is a problem.\u201d said Ali L., a Technologist from Sheffield. Indian troops took over Kashmir, again, with their armed forces to oppress any form of rebellious activities. People are under curfew, food is in short supply, communication is cut off\u2026 it sounds more likely to be in 1945 than in 2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the scene of the solidarity march, children were a crucial part. \u201cMy granddaughter was really sad when she saw the pictures (pictures of deaths and violence). When she saw them, she was surprised, and I kind of had to explain what\u2019s going on. And she wondered why police are not arresting bad people.\u201d said Abdullah. To that young girl, the \u2018police\u2019 were one to live up to justice; yet it leaves us all questioning, where do the Indian police stand in the Kashmir crisis? What about the British government or the United Nations?<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_31225\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31225\" class=\"size-large wp-image-31225\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2019\/10\/IMG_0331-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-31225\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credits to Ioanna-Rantina Koutsafti<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before all these questions, the protesters wanted to \u2018let people know\u2019 about Kashmir being locked down. \u201cI mean people are walking by and thinking, \u2018there\u2019s a lot of noise going on\u2019, I don\u2019t blame them. They obviously don\u2019t know. But I put the \u2018Please Ask\u2019 sign behind my placard. I just wished somebody would come and ask what\u2019s going on. So they know, that we are not just here making noise,\u201d Abdullah continued. Her own agenda of the rally was to inform and to share her values with more people. On top of that, it was to demand the British government\u2019s attention on this matter, to take part in the international community for universal well-being.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A day after the protest, 27 MPs from 11 countries, the delegation of the EU,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2019\/10\/eu-mps-visit-kashmir-foreign-visit-clampdown-191028121735778.html\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">paid a visit to India<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in order to check out the situation in Kashmir. So far, foreign journalists are strictly restricted to cover any stories coming from Kashmir after 5 August decision and nobody is able to estimate what has happened or happening inside the fence. \u201cWe urge the Indian authorities to unlock the situation and fully restore the rights that are currently being denied.\u201d, said Rupert Colville, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2019\/10\/extremely-concerned-rights-deprivation-kashmir-191029201106296.html\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">UN press briefing<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_31227\" style=\"width: 435px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31227\" class=\"wp-image-31227\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2019\/10\/IMG_0366-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"425\" height=\"239\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-31227\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credits to Ioanna-Rantina Koutsafti<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201c I am from Kashmir. That\u2019s one reason, but any human being who has a good heart will actually feel for them,\u201d Mr L answered when he was asked why he joined the demonstration. Lately, the Extinction Rebellion or the Pro\/Anti-Brexit protests have been under the spotlight from the press, as well as the public. This is not to pose a debate on whether both theses are meaningful or not, but it\u2019s worth to have a talk about what the essence of the protest is. How the protest makes changes and draws solidarity from good hearts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Here&#8217;s\u00a0 a live-streamed clip of #FreeKashmir protest:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Kashmir solidarity <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/protest?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#protest<\/a> is on at Downing Street. The protesters are marchig towards Trafalgar Square. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/KashmirWantsFreedom?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#KashmirWantsFreedom<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/kashmirwomenmarch?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#kashmirwomenmarch<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/kashmirsolidarityprotest?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#kashmirsolidarityprotest<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/london?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#london<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/londonnews?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#londonnews<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/news?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#news<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/voiceoflondonuk?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#voiceoflondonuk<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/vol?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#vol<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3fWf87FpYX\">pic.twitter.com\/3fWf87FpYX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Voice Of London UK (@VoiceOfLondonUK) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VoiceOfLondonUK\/status\/1188488450950995968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 27, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Words: Kim Se Hee<\/p>\n<p>Photo: Ioanna-Rantina Koutsafti,\u00a0William Baulch from Foreign Brief,\u00a0Ahmer Khan<\/p>\n<p>Video: Kim Se Hee, Ioanna-Rantina Koutsafti<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kashmir solidarity rally takes to the streets of London \u201cOnly one reason. People are suffering. It\u2019s terrible.\u201d Mo Naved Ali, in his late 50s, said with a quivering voice, a few drops of tear under&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":476,"featured_media":31218,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,52,93,134],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activism","category-featured","category-news","category-uknews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/476"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}