A group of human rights activists demonstrated against New Delhi’s “reign of repression” in the Indian-held Kashmir here on Thursday and urged an end to sufferings of the people with implementation of relevant UN resolutions allowing them the right to self-determination.
The protest held outside the Indian embassy on the Massachusetts Ave coincided with the Indian Independence Day and came as firing across the Line of Control in IHK, re-ignited tensions between South Asian nuclear powers Pakistan and India.
Gathering under the banner of Kashmir Forum Washington, the demonstrators belonging to Kashmiri-American community, asked India to immediately “end its state terrorism” and “withdraw the occupational forces from the territory of Jammu and Kashmir”.
The participants submitted a memorandum to the Indian embassy asking New Delhi to repeal “its draconian laws for the region, allow human rights organisations into occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and release all the prisoners resisting Indian rule unconditionally”.
The memorandum registered their protest against “unprovoked acts of firing by the Indian forces across the Line of Control that have resulted in the killing of innocent Kashmiri living on the Azad Jammu and Kashmir border”.
The participants carried placards and banners that drew attention to the plight of the people in IHK.
They also condemned the July 18 killing of four innocent Kashmiris at the hands of Indian border security forces during a peaceful protest in Rambol district.