To observe the Kashmir Solidarity Day on 5th February, a seminar was held at the Consulate General of Pakistan, Sydney, Australia. Australian former Senator and leading human rights activist Lee Rhiannon was the keynote speaker.
The event, held in a covid-safe environment, was attended by a large number of participants especially the members of the Pakistan-Australian community. The speakers at the seminar highlighted the illegality of the Indian occupation of Kashmir and the catastrophic human rights violations in Indian-occupied Kashmir.
Muhammad Ashraf, Consul General of Pakistan in Sydney, highlighted the plight of the Kashmiri people and said that the history of freedom struggles was witness to the fact that the guns and bullets could not endlessly subjugate a nation against its will. The freedom movement in Kashmir was no exception. “The Kashmiris are destined to have their freedom; it is a matter of when, not if”, he said.
In her keynote address, Ms. Lee Rhiannon said that Indian security forces were involved in gross abuses of human rights in Kashmir. India was following the policy of disappearances, demolition of houses of the Kashmiris, and arbitrary detentions of youth and incarcerating them all across India to make it difficult for the families to follow up their cases. The Kashmiris’ land was being transferred to the non-Kashmiris and human rights activists were being detained under the terror law. The latest instance was the detention of Fahad Shah, the editor of a prominent newspaper, for uploading “inciting” content.
India was constantly trying to change the demographics of Kashmir. India’s Consul General in New York in November 2019 was reported to have spoken at a private gathering about population changes his government was advocating in Jammu and Kashmir, where he said, “If the Israeli people can do it, we can also do it.”
