ISLAMABAD, 13 July 2022 – Some of the most inspiring stories on freedom in today’s world come from Kashmiris, who, for decades, have  been resisting illegal occupation of their territory, first by British colonizers and then by India. The latter had illegally invaded and occupied the territory in 1947, and is in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions on Kashmir. India’s first Prime Minister Nehru pledged to UNSC on record to allow Kashmiris to decide their future through a plebiscite.

In 1843, Britain as a colonial power ‘sold’ Kashmir to a wealthy Indian Maharaja named Gulab Singh. He was an extremist Hindu feudal. He set out to humiliate the majority Kashmiri Muslims. In July 1931, Singh banned Kashmiris from Azaan, the call to prayer rendered at mosques. A Kashmiri man, named Abdul Qadir, was arrested by Maharaja’s soldiers and tried for seditions. On the day of his trial, on 31 July 1931, thousands of Kashmiris gathered outside the prison awaiting the result of the trial. During the wait, it was noon prayer time, known to Muslims as Zohr. One Kashmiri stood up and recited the Azaan, the call to prayer. Before he could complete it, he was shot and killed by Maharaja’s police. Another Kashmiri man took his place and tried to complete the Azaan but was shot to death. A third man rose, and then a fourth. In the end, a total of twenty-two men were killed, each one of them having recited a part of the call to prayer until it was read out in full.

Every day for the past 91 years, Kashmiris have faithfully marked Kashmir Martyrs Day to commemorate the sacrifice of these men of freedom.

History is made of such stories. Nations rise when its sons and daughters feed national pride with such amazing stories of sacrifice.

The YFK–International Kashmir Lobby Group:

• RECALLS the huge sacrifices that the Kashmiri nation has given for the cause of freedom in the face of one of the world’s biggest armies, the Indian Army, which invaded and occupied Kashmir in August 1947, and launched a cruel regime of terror and murder in 1989, to stop Kashmiris from demanding freedom.
• STRESSES the need for the international community to take note of the world’s biggest peaceful civil disobedience movement, where Kashmiris refuse to cooperate with the military occupation authorities of India.
• INSISTS that India’s military occupation end immediately, and that New Delhi meet international standards of justice and fair play by withdrawing the occupation army from Srinagar and all other Kashmiri cities, and allow Kashmiris to take charge of their government, as a first step toward resolving the international dispute in accordance with UNSC resolutions.
• ASKS India to rise up to its regional and international responsibilities by diffusing the source of chronic tension and instability in the region, which is Kashmir. Resolving Kashmir would ensure that India would be at peace with Kashmiris and with Pakistan, which is a party to the Kashmir dispute in accordance to UNSC resolutions.
• DEMANDS that the United Nations Security Council seize itself of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Kashmir, where India’s military occupation authorities have been found involved in arbitrary and extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, denial of basic civil liberties, and the use of rape as a weapon of war.

An immediate and urgent action by India on Kashmir will help normalize relations in South Asia and set a positive precedent that would give dividends of peace to the entire region.

YFK–International Kashmir Lobby Group (Youth Forum For Kashmir) is a non-partisan, international non-governmental organization, working for the peaceful resolution of Kashmir Conflict in accordance with United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions.