MUZAFFARABAD: Kashmiri activists staged a demonstration here on Saturday to condemn ever-increasing war crimes in occupied Jammu and Kashmir at the hands of the Narendra Modi-led fascist regime in India.

They urged the United Nations (UN) and the international community to stop being oblivious of the situation in the occupied territory.

The demonstration was organised by Pasban-i-Hurriyat, an organisation of the post-1990 migrants from across the Line of Control (LoC) to coincide with Mr Modi’s address to the UN General Assembly.

“Hitler is back in the shape of [Narendra] Modi,” read one of the several placards the demonstrators were holding.

“Massacre of Kashmiri Muslims by Modi is worse than the holocaust,” read another.

The demonstrators held a rally from Burhan Wani Chowk to Garhi Pan Chowk during which they kept on chanting anti-India and pro-freedom slogans.

At Garhi Pan Chowk, they also torched portraits of Mr Modi.

“A man who has been brazenly massacring humans shouldn’t be given a floor at the world body,” said Uzair Ghazali of Pasban-i-Hurriyat about Mr Modi.

He said while India had always been an oppressor of the Kashmiris it had now become a living hell for all of its non-Hindu citizens under Mr Modi.

“Previously, the killer of Gujarat and Kashmir and now the killer of humanity, who has been blatantly disregarding all international conventions on human rights as well as the UN Security Council resolutions, should not be allowed even entry into the UN building,” Mr Ghazali said.

“In fact, it is a blot on the role, responsibilities and mandate of the UN,” he added.

Other speakers said the BJP-RSS regime was an utter disaster for 1.5 billion inhabitants of South Asia and should not be given acceptance by any country, particularly those who presented themselves as the protagonists of human rights and civil liberties.

The UN and the world community should shun their silence over the catastrophic situation in occupied Kashmir and instead pressure India to agree to hold a plebiscite so as to let the Kashmiris exercise their right to self-determination in the interest of regional as well as global peace, they said.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2021