#ichd

The Chairman of the Kashmir Council EU, Ali Raza Syed, has released the following statement following the attacks in Brussels:

 

'Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers are with the victims and their families on this shocking day.  We absolutely condemn these monstrous attacks.  They are targeting innocent people, in a peaceful city that hasn't known anything like this since the second world war.  

 

 

 

We shall not let these instigators of terror break our spirits in Belgium, nor derail the peace and cooperation that has existed for so long in Europe.  We must let the attacks make us kinder to each other, and stronger in our solidarity.  We shall stand together, and with unity we will defeat the forces of evil and the enemies of humanity.'

 

 

 

MARCH 15 2016

Kashmir Council EU's Chairman, Ali Raza Syed, said yesterday that Kashmir’s conflict needs the urgent attention of the international community, as it is a universal threat to humanity. We are compelled to see this as one of the most urgent calls for peace.

He was addressing a seminar organised by World Muslim Congress at the sidelines of the 31st session of United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.

The seminar was moderated by Altaf Hussain Wani. Other panel speakers of the seminar were Dr Zahoor Manzoor, Member of the Brussels Parliament, Dr Karen Parker, Endre Barcs, Emima Abdusalam and Daniela Dongues. A documentary about the sedition charges against Kashmir Professor Syed Ali Shah Geelani was also screened.

During his speech, Ali Raza Syed said that the misery and injustice in Jammu and Kashmir is not only the problem of a secluded community, while the conflict is a universal threat to humanity:

"We are compelled to see this as one of the most urgent calls for the peace. We believe that justice should prevail on power.

"I am not going to narrate here the history of Jammu and Kashmir, nor will I refer to the numerous calls from the UN or international human rights organisations during the last seven decades. Rather I will only say that every human life lost in this conflict, every woman raped, every injustice committed is the injustice done to more than one and half billion people of India, Pakistan and entire South Asia. This is the unfortunate region that has been held hostage of this conflict for seven decades. This is the region that is lurking under extreme poverty, decease, illiteracy, bad governance, corruption. This is the region whose states are compelled to spend their meagre resources in building large armies and lethal armaments including missile and nuclear programs.

"About the issue of mass graves in IHK, more than 10,000 innocent people have been disappeared. I want to raise a simple point of common sense. And this relates to Indian government’s refusal to conduct DNA tests. At one level, they claim that everybody killed by Security Forces was a militant or an outsider. Well, proving their identity, by DNA tests, shall only strengthen their claim beyond doubt.

"We become sad and agitated to see that our fellow Kashmiris suffering from Indian occupation are still deprived of the basic notions of dignified life with right to choose, right to life and right to move, right to fair trial, freedom from torture, freedom from fear and freedom from inhuman treatment, amongst other inalienable rights and freedoms being enjoyed by the rest of the world at various degrees.

"In my lifelong struggle for the right of self-determination for Kashmiris, I don’t remember a single year without a fresh reason for concern, a new act of horrendousness by Indian state. For the years, we have been agitating against mass graves, black laws and the impunity of the state officials. Today even the people of India are starting to say that the Indian occupation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir is illegal. JNU Students and professors came out to support the basic rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

"I hope that more and more of the people of India will support the rightful struggle of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Now is the time that the international community and the United Nations should implement the resolutions passed by the UN Security Council some 60 years ago, which gave the people of Jammu and Kashmir the right to decide their destiny in a plebiscite."

Referring to a UN resolution, he reminded the assembly that on 21 February 1957, the United States of America, co-sponsored by the United Kingdom, Australia, Colombia and Cuba, raised the issue of Kashmir at the UN Security Council. The United States was one of the five co-sponsors of the Security Council Resolution 123 of 21 February 1957 that reasserted the call for a plebiscite, and declared that the Kashmir Constituent Assembly’s vote in 1954 to reaffirm the state’s accession to India was not internationally binding. Delegates voted 10-0 in favour of the resolution a few days later.

Despite such resolutions, the people of Kashmir are still waiting to exercise their rights and freedom along with everything that is guaranteed in the United Declaration of Human Rights.

He said, "We urge the Indian and Pakistani states to muster the courage to implement UN resolutions which guarantee the right to self-determination. But we know that it is not possible without active support from the international community. Now it is time for the international community to raise their voices, and for the UN to implement its resolutions to end the long suffering of the people of Jammu and Kashmir."

end

PRESS RELEASE MARCH 15

Kashmir Council EU Chairman Ali Raza Syed has condemned the beating and detention today of four Kashmiri students at Mewar University in India. The four male students were attacked by a group of locals, because they had allegedly consumed beef the evening before.

Responding to the news, Ali Raza Syed said:

‘What is happening now in India is the result of the policies of Mohdi’s government, and his strong ties to the Siv Shena party. Since Mohdi came to power, we have seen a rise in violent behaviour from extremists who are encouraged by him and the BJP.

They are killing people for eating beef, beating students who support a cricket team other than India, and jailing anyone who dares to speak with an independent voice. Dalits, Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs are all being targeted for their beliefs, because the Siv Shena party want to create a pure Hindu state, where there is no place for other communities, minorities, or other religions.

India cannot continue claiming to be the world’s biggest democracy on the world stage while they carry out these practices at home. The increasing number of atrocities like these should open the international community’s eyes to the real face of the so-called biggest democracy.’

Kashmir Council EU Chairman Ali Raza Syed has said, International Community should take serious notice of severe situation related to women in Indian Held Kashmir (IHK).

In a statement on the occasion of International Women’s Day, Mr Ali Raza Syed said, beside the men and children, thousands of women became target of Indian brutalities in occupied territory. Women in Kashmir have been suffered massively in IHK as they have been raped, tortured, maimed and killed and some of them were even jailed for years.

Reports of many local and international human rights organizations shown that the Indian authorities violated all norms and morality in dealing with women in the held Kashmir.

Sorrows and griefs of the Kashmiri women by the hands of occupation security forces are endless, he said. There are thousands of the women who were raped and killed or lost their beloved one during atrocities committed by the Indian occupation forces.

A large number of women in IHK are suffering because of loss of their husbands, sons, fathers, and brothers and their miseries are unending, Chairman KC-EU added.

He said, the Kashmiri people have been subjected to the worst kind of human rights abuses. The Indian troops deployed in Indian Occupied Kashmir operate under the draconian laws, specific to Kashmir, which provide immunity to these occupation forces. The forces have been given a free hand to play havoc with the life, dignity, honour and property of the hapless people of Kashmir.

A number of Sikh organizations based in Belgium and other countries pledged their support to the upcoming protest on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Brussels on 31st March.

Kashmir Council EU which is main organizer of the forthcoming protest program including a demonstration and a one-day camp at the European Union Head Quarters Brussels, has launched a broad campaign for securing public support in this protest.

So far, a number of the individuals and representatives of the different organizations have been contacted by the Kashmir Council EU Chairman Ali Raza Syed and other office bearers in the context.

Europe based Sikh Organizations which declared their support to the protest are included Baber Khalsa,  Dalkhalsa  and All Gurdawara Committees Belgium, Dalkhalsa Switzerland, Dalkhalsa  Germany, Sikh Student Federation Germany, Rasham Singh Baber Khalsa Germany and S.A.D. Maan  Germany.

Ali Raza Syed assured the Sikh community’s leaders that atrocities against the Sikh minority by the Indian regime would also be highlighted in the protest.

The protest would be held at Place Schuman (near Metro Stop Schuman) in front of EU Council and Commission Offices where Modi’s meetings are supposed to be held in the capital city on 31st March (Thursday).

Modi will visit Brussels for the first India-European Union (EU) bilateral summit in four years.

According to a Press Release issued in Brussels, the protest would be started at 12:30 p.m.

Chairman Kashmir Council EU Ali Raza Syed who is also leading the council team for organizing the protest, said, we have received very positive response of different circles so far and I hope that a large number of Kashmiris and representatives of minorities and other oppressed people of India would attend the upcoming gathering in Brussels. Kashmir Council EU has already requested the leadership of both side of Azad Kashmir and Indian Held Kashmir and members of the all minorities and other suppressed people in India to attend the protest.

The PR said, the protest is against Modi’s fascism particularly Indian brutalities against the people of occupied Kashmir and exploitation of Kashmiri students studying at different Indian Universities and as well fascist and exploitative policies of Modi’s government against various minorities including Sikh community and other segments of the society in India. Many other issues related the rights of people in the different Indian parts would also be raised during the protest.

Chairman Kashmir Council EU Ali Raza Syed today said that former Home Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram’s statement over Afzal Guru’s case indicated that the Kashmir leader was hanged “unfairly”. 

In a statement from Brussels, Ali Raza Syed said, the former minister’s statement brings the justice system of India “under question”.

“Afzal Guru was hanged because he was a Kashmiri as Indian justice system does not work in case of Kashmiris,” he argued. 

Ali’s statement was in response to an interview to The Economic Times, where Chidamabaram had said, "I think it is possible to hold an honest opinion that the Afzal Guru case was perhaps not correctly decided."   

Chairman Kashmir Council EU asked international community to assign an international investigation into the case of Afzal Guru and pressure India to assist in reopening the case in order “to expose the facts behind injustice in this particular case”. 

Ali Raza Syed said, “Afzal Guru had always denied his involvement in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack but despite of that he was discriminately executed by the authorities and forcibly buried at jail premises against the wishes of his family.” 

He said, “Kashmiris who are deprived of justice in Indian rule, are suffering state oppression at the hands of New Delhi as the State imposed black laws in the Kashmir valley.”

“India wants to continue its rule and it uses all unfair tactics for the purpose. It was not only Afzal Guru who was sacrificed under Indian policy of Kashmiri genocide while in the recent years, thousands of Kashmiris were arrested, kidnapped and killed extra judicially in Kashmir,” he said. 

Chairman Kashmir Council EU also deplored the detention of Kashmiri leaders and activists including Shabir Ahmad Shah.

Condemning the security forces actions against the leaders, he said, “The arrests and harassment cannot deter Kashmiris from continuing with their struggle.” 

“They will continue to raise their voices against the Indian atrocities on the oppressed people,” Ali Raza Syed said, while condemning the recent “crackdowns and arrests” of the Kashmiri students in New Delhi.

Kashmir Council EU Chairman Ali Raza Syed today condemned “crackdowns” against the Kashmiri students in New Delhi, and termed it an attack on freedom of speech and expression.

In a statement issued in Brussels, Ali Raza Syed said, “The action against the students is an assault on a democratic right for dissent and debate and against the basic human rights of the people.”

Expressing concerns on the situation, he said, it is a matter of grave concern and against the norms of a civilized society.

“The events including the detention and suspension of students was a cause of concern among the members of academic world and civil societies of the globe,” statement said.

He asked that it is duty of civil society of India specially academia to protect rights of the students in that country.

Terming the Indian attitude as “narrow-mindedness and a discriminated act”, he said, “Victimization of the Kashmiri students in India is unacceptable.”