Malala Asks UN General Assembly to Bring Peace to Kashmir
Malala has urged the leaders who will be attending the upcoming Session of the UN General Assembly to work towards peace in Kashmir.
By Rakesh Raman
Children’s rights activist and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai has urged the UN General Assembly to bring peace to Kashmir, which is currently under the occupation of Indian security forces.
In a series of tweets, Malala said Saturday she is deeply concerned about reports of 4,000 people, including children, arbitrarily arrested and jailed, about students who haven’t been able to attend school for more than 40 days, and about girls who are afraid to leave their homes.
Kashmir – which is a disputed territory between India and Pakistan – is facing extreme human rights violations being committed by the Indian security forces, as the Indian government headed by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has abrogated Article 370 which gave special privileges to the people of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).
In a despotic move, Modi government had imposed a curfew in Kashmir and millions of people have been locked in their homes since August 4, a day before revoking Article 370 for J&K. The Modi government is also not allowing the press to cover the burning situation in Kashmir.
[ Also Read: Michelle Bachelet Asks India to Restore Human Rights of Kashmiris ]
Malala said that in the past one week she spoke with people living and working in Kashmir. They included journalists, human rights lawyers, and students. “Kashmiris are cut off from the world and unable to make their voices heard,” she tweeted with the hashtag #LetKashmirSpeak.
I am asking leaders, at #UNGA and beyond, to work towards peace in Kashmir, listen to Kashmiri voices and help children go safely back to school.
— Malala (@Malala) September 14, 2019
Narrating the story of a girl, Malala said, “The best way to describe the situation in Kashmir right now is absolute silence. We have no way of finding out what’s happening to us. All we could hear is the steps of troops outside our windows. It was really scary.”
She urged the leaders who will be attending the upcoming Session of the UN General Assembly (September 17 – September 30) to work towards peace in Kashmir, listen to Kashmiri voices, and help children go safely back to school.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He also creates and publishes a number of digital publications on different subjects.
