India must be forced to de-militarise Kashmir, Punjab, say Sikh & Kashmiri diaspora

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Sikh and Kashmiri organisations in the UK have, once again, protested on the India’s Republic Day, the day on which the Indian state adopted a constitution that sought to legitimise its theft of the right of self-determination from the peoples of Kashmir and Punjab. The Sikhs and Kashmiris while observing the day as Black Day, today, urged the world to force India to de-militarise Kashmir, Punjab.

There are similar protests by diaspora communities across the world as well as within Indian-controlled territories, said Ranjit Singh Srai, Coordinator, Self-Determination Council The World Sikh Parliament.

The statement said Sikhs and Kashmiris have demonstrated that their desire for freedom is irrepressible.

“It is time the international community recognised and shackled the aggressor, so that democracy and self-determination can deliver peace, prosperity and justice where India’s colonial rule resulted only in genocide, economic destruction and the creation of conditions that endanger peace and stability in the wider region.”

Ranjit Sindh Srai said, at a time when extreme right-wing Hindutva fascism fronts a terrorist state, the threat of further conflict and massive rights abuses is alarmingly clear to any neutral observer.

“India’s illegal use of force to suppress these regions is driven by its relentless denial of the right of self-determination for their populations. It has also even officially rejected Article 1 of the 1966 Covenants on Human Rights, which sets out that right, in a move formally rejected by the UN’s Human Right Committee and several leading states. It is an untenable position that cannot be allowed to dictate the destiny of tens of millions who simply want to exercise that most basic human right.”

“Implementing that right is the only way to secure peaceable conflict resolution in Punjab and Kashmir,” Srai said and stressed the world to urgently hold the Indian state to account and make it comply with its obligations under international law; the Indian constitution was never and will never be a part of the solution. “India must also be made to de-militarise these regions and release all political prisoners, so that the authentic leadership of these oppressed nations can restore the democratic deficit.”

The Sikh and Kashmiri organizations pointed out that genocide perpetrators must never be allowed to succeed, if humanity truly aspires to live by a rules-based international order. The recent, well-publicised, open threats of genocide made by Hindutva-professing leaders in India shine the light on what the alternative will look like, the statement concluded.

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Disclaimer: India must be forced to de-militarise Kashmir, Punjab, say Sikh & Kashmiri diaspora - Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Latheefarook.com point-of-view

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