Press Release: for the Night Long Sit-In Protest against India’s Crimes against Humanity
Far away from their home in Kashmir, where life has been put under curfew and dead bodies of boys and girls arrive in every neighborhood, Kashmiris living in Delhi have come together to protest against the repression and killings by armed forces. Hundreds of people from Delhi also protested in solidarity with Kashmiris asking for a political solution to Kashmir rather than a military one.
On June 11, when a 17 year old school boy Tufail Matoo, was killed after tear smoke canister fired by the armed forces hit him on his head. This was few weeks after the fake encounter of three Kashmiri men by the Army in Rafiabad in north Kashmir and Kashmiris were already angry. Kashmiris came out in thousands to protest the death in which more people were killed. The police and CRPF then fired on the mourners killing more boys. Two girls, Fancy and Afroza, aged 23 and 17, lost their lives to the bullets. A 7 year old boy was beaten to death in Batamaloo. Most of the dead were teenagers and children. They threw stones at the CRPF bunkers, which they consider symbols of occupation, and the armed forces kept firing live ammunition in the crowds killing 55 civilans.
In the last 7 days, 600 people have been seriously injured and wounded. According to doctors in the SMHS hospital, out of the 37 people who had been shot at were in one ward, 35 had been shot at point blank range and above their chests. Thousands have been maimed, blinded and paralysed in the last one month.
No place in Kashmir, be it homes, hospitals or ambulances have been spared in Kashmir and even the media was gagged and were often beaten up. In the unarmed protests in Kashmir since 2008, not a single soldier or policeman has been killed but more than 160 people have been killed.
Like always, Indian state this time as well only answered militarily by sending 1900 more troops in addition to the 7,00,000 soldiers that are already there. By conservative estimates, 70,000 people have been killed in Kashmir since 1990 but it has not been able to change the ‘sentiment for Azadi’ on ground. Killing people cannot achieve anything, it is the ‘aspiration of Azadi of Kashmiri’s that India needs to engage with and work towards a political solution. ‘They make desolation and call it peace’. Peace cannot and will not come through gun barrel nor will India win by buying time. For the last several decades we have seen that Indian state has faced one generation of Kashmiris after another, and cosmetic measures and economic packages will not help change the situation in Kashmir.
On Saturday, at the Jantar Mantar at the 5.30 Pm, people came together for a night long Sit- In to protest against Indian State’s Crimes against Humanity in Kashmir and its insensitivity to the loss of innocent lives.
The night long protest is an attempt to tell Kashmiris back home, who are out on streets all night, that though we are not under Curfew and repression as they are, we feel the gun barrels against us and the tear smoke gas around us.
We, as Kashmiris, want India to acknowledge J&K as a dispute between Kashmiris and the neighbouring countries and not as a law and order problem.
We also put the following demands in front of Govt. of India:
* Demilitarize our land, our schools, our hospitals, our streets, our orchards, our cities, our towns and our villages.
* Repeal the draconian laws like AFSPA, J&K-PSA, Disturbed Areas Act, etc.
* Release all political prisoners who have been arrested in last 21 years.
* Allow international agencies to investigate into the mass graves in Kashmir and the crimes against humanity committed by Indian forces in Kashmir.
* Learn to respect dissent and respect democratic right of people to disagree.
* Initiate dialogue on Kashmir, in Kashmir, with Kashmiris.
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