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Solidarity Day in Hague

Posted on March 31, 2012 By ICHD

The International Council for Human Development (ICHD) and Kashmir Centre-Holland jointly organised a demonstration on 5th of February 2012 marked as the Solidarity Day. The demonstration was organised in Hague, Holland. A large number of participants including human rights activists, women, students and general people attended the event.

The Solidarity Day is celebrated across the world to renew the commitment with the Kashmiri people who are fighting selflessly against a huge military force protected by the worst black laws. The participants raised slogans for the right to self determination of the Kashmiris.

Addressing the rally, chairperson of ICHD, Ali Raza Syed said that they expressed solidarity with the Kashmiri brothers leading miserable lives in Indian Held Kashmir. He said that Kashmiris were struggling for more than six decades for their legitimate right to self determination and in response they are being murdered, raped, imprisoned, tortured and humiliated. He said that the life conditions in the IHK are a scar on the collective conscience of the humanity. He said that the India authorities were no longer able to hide their crimes under the carpet as the entire world is becoming aware of the facts. He referred to many reports by the international human rights organisations that exposed the atrocities and human rights violations committed by the Indian authorities. Referring to unnamed mass graves, he said that it was only the tip of the iceberg as there were much more murders and disappearances in Kashmir.

The executive director of Kashmir Centre-Holland, Dr. Zaib also condemned the fact that Kashmiris were not getting their right to self determination despite the fact that entire world community has, directly or indirectly, has validated their just demand. He mentioned numerous documents including UN resolutions in support of the Kashmiri demands.

Reflections on Kashmir

Posted on March 31, 2012 By ICHD

The Kashmir Council-EU organised a seminar in Brussels titled, “Reflections on Kashmir” in collaboration with the association of Belgian doctors. A large number of doctors, intellectuals and activists, amongst others, participated in the seminar. Addressing the seminar, the chairman of KC-EU, Ali Raza Syed said that six decades of repression could be termed as a long time for any nation struggling against the foreign occupation bent upon committing human rights violations as abductions, rapes, torture, murders and disappearances. He pointed out the fact that the mutilated dead bodies were found everyday in the Indian Held Kashmir while girls and boys were disappeared in routine. He said that the discovery of the unmarked mass graves had shown to the world the real face of the Indian democracy. He lamented the fact that there was no serious response from the international community, which was silent despite knowing that 800,000 strong army was committing grave human rights violations in Kashmir. He especially pointed out the fact that there was no health facilities for the people that are wounded by the Indian forces. He requested the doctors of the Belgium that they should send their delegation to the Indian Held Kashmir to see the real situation of the people that are facing torture every day. He said that the announcement by the Secretary Interior of India concerning the reduction of 25% army in Kashmir was nullified by an Indian commander. He said that the Indian state had made itself fully discredited.
The ICHD showed a documentary film that reflected the miserable conditions of the people of Kashmir. Ali Raza Syed said that this film was a documentary proof of the life conditions in Kashmir. He said that the purpose of the seminar was to highlight the health related problems that were faced by the people of Kashmir. He told the participants about the One Million Signature Campaign launched by the ICHD by saying that the campaign was an effort to assemble the international opinion in favor of bringing the Kashmir issue on the agenda of European Union.
Earlier, the coordinator of the Doctor’s Association, Dr. Adnan Farooqi said that their objective was to raise the awareness of the international community about the grave human rights violations in Kashmir. He said that their main focuse was the health issues espeically the lack of the emergency held to the wounded. He said that their concern was that the situation in Kashmir could bring danger to the entire region since the patience of the Kashmiris, in the wake of the horrendous misdeeds by the Indian forces, was getting thin. He said that it was very important to convey the message to the Indian state that their voice in the favor of the Kashmiris was being heard in the nook and corner of the world.

One-Million Signature Campaign

Posted on March 31, 2012 By ICHD

The One-Million Signature Campaign is a timely and innovative initiative by the International Council for Human Development (ICHD) that has succeeded in getting widespread attention and support from across the sections of the European society. The campaign draws its justification from the provision in the EU system that any organisation or initiative with the European Union can bring any issue on the agenda of the EU if it shows that it has the support of one million citizens of the Europe. Though a gigantic task, the ICHD started this campaign considering the huge number of its members and sympathisers as a basic asset for such an effort. The campaign is by large a big success and brought unprecedented applause from not only Europe but also from the people and activists of IHK, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan and the Kashmiri diaspora communities from all across the world.

The basic argument of the campaign relates to the question of peace in South Asia, in particular, and the peace in the world, in general. The thousands of the people, in different cities of the Europe, endorsed the call for the peace and justice for the oppressed Kashmiris victimised by the Indian forces. The campaign pleads to end the sufferings of the Kashmiri people and seeks the support by the general masses, intellectuals, journalists, civil society organisations, artists, women, labours and lawyers to come forward and support the cause of justice, and peace in South Asia.

The International Council for Human Development (ICHD), through the One-Million Signature Campaign, expresses its deep trust on the EU institutions and their mechanisms that support the oppressed nations, communities and individuals across the world. In fact, the EU has always acted in the favour of the oppressed nation of Kashmir through its many resolutions, statements and other acts of solidarity. The reason why CHD applies so much efforts and resource to lobby its cause in EU parliament is that the words of support from the RU mechanism receive attention from all across the world. We believe that the EU institutions are the forums that are following the ideals and values described in UDHR and numerous other Human Rights based documents.

The campaign started with a camp in front of the European Parliament at Place Luxemberg. The campaign has successfully organised the camps in different countries of Europe such as Holland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, & UK. Already, a large number of the EU citizens have endorsed the campaign. After collection of one million signatures, they will be presented to the ‘European Parliament’s human rights committee’ to emphasise the violations of human rights in IHK Kashmir.