WE ARE NOT INDIA’S, WE ARE NOT PAKISTAN’S – WE ARE KASHMIRIS!
By: M. Haleem Khan, Spokesman Kashmiri-American Community, USA
Let me make our position absolutely clear for the whole world:
- We will never extend our hand towards India.
India is an occupier. The occupier who on August 5, 2019, illegally annexed Jammu Kashmir. The occupier who has kept 1 million troops in our motherland, killed over 100,000 Kashmiris, blinded thousands of our youth with pellet guns, and turned our paradise into the world’s largest open-air prison. There can be no compromise with occupation.
- Our only struggle is for the RESTORATION of the State of Jammu Kashmir on its pre-August 14, 1947 position.
We do not want autonomy within India or Pakistan. We want our country back. A country that existed for 100 years from 1846 to 1947, with its own Maharaja, its own flag, its own constitution, and its own borders from Kargil to Lakhanpur and from Azad Kashmir to Gilgit-Baltistan.
- August 13, 1948 – When the United Nations Became a Partner in Crime.
For God’s sake, history must be told truthfully. On August 13, 1948, the United Nations committed a historic crime against the people of Jammu Kashmir. The UN sat down with two occupiers – INDIA and PAKISTAN – and decided the fate of 20 million people without inviting the principal party: THE PEOPLE OF JAMMU KASHMIR.
The UN passed a criminal resolution that said Kashmiris must choose between India or Pakistan. Was it not the responsibility of the UN to call the real owners of the land? What kind of justice is this?
We were independent when the mother of both India and Pakistan was still under British occupation. On August 15, 1947, we were a sovereign state under the Standstill Agreement. We have been enslaved by two powerful countries who are now nuclear monsters threatening all of South Asia.
We will never accept this nonsense to remain slaves forever.
Our demand is clear and legal:
We want the restoration of our state and to establish an Independent, Democratic, Social Welfare State of Jammu Kashmir. This includes Azad Kashmir, Jammu, Kashmir Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan, Ladakh, and the part of Jammu Kashmir occupied by China.
We call upon the United Nations to rectify its historic mistake of 1948. Correct the record. Recognize the people of Jammu Kashmir as the principal party.
And we call upon the international community, the United States, and all peace-loving nations to help us restore our country – The Independent State of Jammu Kashmir.
We are Kashmiris. We were Kashmiris before 1947 and we will remain Kashmiris forever .