LONDON – Kashmiris and their supporters protested in London on Sunday against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) since New Delhi imposed draconian security restrictions nearly three years ago.
“Kashmiris condemn Modi’s visit to IIOJK when innocent, unarmed Kashmiris are imprisoned in the world’s largest open-air prison,” the demonstrators stated outside the Indian consulate in Birmingham, shouting anti-India and pro-Kashmir freedom slogans.
Modi’s visit to the Muslim-majority territory is his first since India removed the occupied region’s semi-autonomous status and placed millions of Kashmiris under military siege on August 5, 2019.
imposed a military blockade on millions of Kashmiris
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Kashmiris would never be intimidated by Indian activities, according to Fahim Kayani, head of the Tehreek-e-Kashmir (TeK) UK chapter, which organised the demonstrations.
“The visit of Modi, whose hands are stained with the blood of innocent people, is intended to deceive the international community into believing that everything is well in IIOJK,” Kayani stated.
“Indian forces have placed one million troops in the UN-designated disputed region, and Modi’s visit was held beneath the barrel of a pistol to ensure graveyard stillness among Kashmiris,” he continued.
The demonstrators demanded that the British government issue a warning to Indian diplomats stationed in the UK over the military lockdown in IIOJK.
“The British government and the international community have a responsibility to hold India accountable for its crimes against humanity in IIOJK,” Kayani added.
“The free ride that India has been given by the western world is merely revealing the hypocrisy of these capitals that talk about preserving human rights,” said Muhammad Ghalib, head of TeK Europe.
“It is because of these sacrifices that the independence movement against India can never be cowed down,” Kayani added, recalling the exceptional sacrifices made by Kashmiris in IIOJK for the right to self-determination.
“Tens of thousands of Kashmiris have been slaughtered, jailed, wounded, and injured,” said Inamul Haq, a Kashmiri activist. “But India can’t remove the idea of freedom from Kashmiris, as time has demonstrated.”
The marchers denounced the cold-blooded murder of Shabir Ahmad Mir, a resident of Srinagar’s Gund Hassi Bhat neighbourhood, who was pursued by Indian forces and drowned in a watercourse, where he was martyred.
