De afgelopen dagen heeft de Indiase regering de speciale status van de door India bestuurde deelstaat Jammu & Kasjmir -door Pakistan beschouwd als bezet gebied- opgeheven. Daardoor wordt de aanzienlijke autonomie die toegekend werd aan dit gebied afgeschaft. India deelde de staat ook op in twee territoria die rechtstreeks bestuurd zullen worden door New Delhi. De opsplitsing is een poging om Kasjmir te transformeren van een internationale kwestie naar een binnenlandse. De acties van de Indiase regering effenen mogelijk het pad naar een nucleaire oorlog met Pakistan en dreigen de regio onherroepelijk te veranderen. De kwestie vereist een onmiddellijke en dringende reactie van de internationale gemeenschap.

Om deze recente maatregelen te kunnen invoeren, werd de Indiase repressie de afgelopen weken opgevoerd in Kasjmir, sowieso al een van 's werelds meest intens gemilitariseerde zones. India heeft tienduizenden extra troepen ontplooid, een uitgaansverbod van 24 uur op 24 uur opgelegd, alle communicatiekanalen geblokkeerd (waaronder internet, gsm-netwerken en landlijnen), scholen en moskeeën overgenomen, en voormalige politieke functionarissen en vrijheidsleiders opgepakt.

Vandaag, 7 augustus, bevinden de bewoners van Kasjmir zich al 72 uur onder deze omstandigheden, met beperkte toegang tot cash, voedsel en medische benodigdheden. Er zijn berichten dat er een demonstrant gedood werd en tenminste zes anderen gewond geraakten in Srinagar, de zomerhoofdstad van de staat Jammu & Kasjmir. Meer dan 100 mensenrechtenactivisten zijn al gearresteerd.

Kasjmiri's zij al drie decennia de dupe van brutaal en cumulatief staatsgeweld, waaronder buitengerechtelijke moorden, gedwongen verdwijningen, seksueel geweld, massagraven, marteling en detentie voor onbepaalde duur. De Verenigde Naties publiceerde in 2018 en 2019 mensenrechtenrapporten over Kasjmir waarin opgeroepen wordt voor een einde aan de straffeloosheid, voor demilitarisering, een onafhankelijke internationale onderzoekscommissie en het recht op zelfbeschikking voor de bevolking van Kasjmir.

Kasjmir is een internationale kwestie die een dringende politieke oplossing vereist, inclusief onderhandelingen tussen de Kasjmiri's, India en Pakistan. Staten en internationale organen die zich bezighouden of hebben beziggehouden met de regio (bijvoorbeeld de Verenigde Staten, het Verenigd Koninkrijk, Canada, relevante EU-lidstaten, het Europees Parlement, de Algemene Vergadering van de VN, De VN Mensenrechtenraad) moeten diplomatiek ingrijpen. Ze moeten dit doen voor de aan de gang zijnde grootschalige militaire operatie of oorlog de hoop op een vreedzame oplossing voor Kasjmiri's, maar ook voor India en Pakistan, volledig vernietigen.

De belegerde bevolking van Kasjmir heeft dringend nood aan internationale assistentie bij het formuleren van een rechtvaardige oplossing, niet aan een militaire bezetting of oorlog.

Getekend in alfabetische volgorde door:

Malik Aabid, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi, India

Asma Abbas, Bard College at Simon's Rock, USA

Nikita Agarwal, Advocate, Chhattisgarh High Court of Bilaspur, India

Omer Aijazi, Religion and Anthropology, University of Toronto, Canada

Ali Al-Qahtani

Ketan Alder, University of Manchester, UK

Ahtisham Ali, Assistant Professor, GC University, Lahore, Pakistan

Nosheen Ali, Kartidharti, South Asia

Saad Amir, Lawyer, Lahore, Pakistan

Dibyesh Anand, University of Westminster, UK

Shilpaa Anand, BITS Hyderabad, India

Anjali Arondekar, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA

Ghazal Asif, Johns Hopkins University USA

Nandita Badami, Ph.D. Candidate, Anthropology, University of Carolifornia - Irvine, USA

Amit Baishya, University of Oklahoma, USA

Anirban Baishya, Fordham University, USA

Sandeep Bakshi, University Paris Diderot, France

Kamran Bala, AML Analyst Moneygram Warsaw, Poland

Mariana Balau, International Relations Professor at PUC Minas, Brazil

Bobby Banerjee, professor, Cass Business School, UK

Mona Bhan, Anthropology, Syracuse University, USA

Varuni Bhatia, Azim Premji University, Bangalore, India

Gargi Bhattacharyya, Social Sciences, University of East London, UK

Somak Biswas, History, University of Warwick, UK

Rafael Bittencourt, PhD Candidate in International Relations, PUC Minas, Brazil

Claire Blencowe, University of Warwick, UK

Dilnaz Boga, Mumbai University, India

Jenisha Borah, Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago, USA

Purnima Bose, International Studies, Indiana University, USA

Gardner Bovingdon, Central Eurasian Studies and International Studies, Indiana University, USA

Emma Brännlund, Politics and International Relations, University of the West of England, UK

Christopher Cannell, PhD, University of Edinburgh, UK

Farhan Mujahid Chak, PhD, Qatar University, Qatar

Shefali Chandra, History, Washington University in St. Louis, USA

Angana Chatterji, University of California, Berkeley, USA

Vanessa Chishti, Historian, O.P. Jindal Global University, India

Ugyan Choedup, History, Pennsylvania State University, USA

Nusrat S Chowdhury, Amherst College, USA

Carmel Christy, International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden, Netherlands

Linda Cronin, University of Roehampton, UK

Masrook Dar, University of Hyderabad, UK

Sandhya Devesan, CSAS, University of Cambridge, UK

Adrija Dey, SOAS, University of London, UK

Haley Duschinski, Anthropology, Ohio University, UK

Anwesha dutta, Chr. Michelsen Institite, Norway

Debjani Dutta, University of Southern California, USA

Peter Dwyer, Ruskin College, Oxford, UK

Nahyan Fancy, History, DePauw University, UK

Gowhar Fazili, Delhi, Indiai

Sareer A. Fazili, Esq., Attorney at Law

Sara Friedman, Anthropology, Indiana University, USA

Pieter Friedrich, South Asian Affairs Analyst

Amrita Ghosh, Linnaeus University, Sweden

Shrimoyee Ghosh, Independent Scholar, New Delhi, India

Priyamvada Gopal, University of Cambridge, UK

Anna Guevarra, Global Asian Studies, University of Illinois, USA

Sugandh Gupta, Ph.D. Candidate, Anthropology, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, USA

Sunil Gupta, Visiting Tutor, Royal College of Art, London, UK

Muneeb Hafiz, Lancaster University, UK

Soibam Haripriya, Dept of Conflict and Development Studies, Ghent University, Belgium

Zehra Hashmi, Anthropology and History, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, UK

Julie Hearn, Lancaster University, UK

Leslie Hempson, Denison University, USA

Paul Hindley

Mariyahl Hoole, Writer and Activist, San Francisco, USA

Saba Hussain, Sociology, University of Warwick, UK

Salman A Hussain, Anthropology and History, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

Lilly Irani, Communication & Science Studies,University of California, San Diego, USA

Feyzi Ismail, SOAS, University of London, UK

Yengkhom Jilangamba, TISS, Guwahati, India

Mohamad Junaid, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, USA

Hafsa Kanjwal, Lafayette College, USA

Nisha Kapoor, University of Warwick, UK

Nitasha Kaul, University of Westminster, UK

Bhavneet Kaur, Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India

Gehna Kapoor, SOAS, UK

Mamatha Karollil, Ambedkar University Delhi, India

Aarti Kawlra, Independent scholar and IIAS Leiden, Netherlands

Seema Kazi, Researcher and Writer, New Delhi, India

Shmyla Khan, BNU, Lahore, Pakistan

Idreas Khandy

Zunaira Komal, University of California Davis, USA

Joanna Kostka, Lecturer in Sociology, Lancaster University, UK

Arun Kumar, University of York, UK

Sandeep Krishna, NCBS, Bangalore, India

Sathish Kumar, activist

Sujay Kumar, University of East anglia, UK

Michael Levien, Sociology, Johns Hopkins University, USA

J. Daniel Luther, King's College London, UK

Jane Lynch, University of Michigan, USA

Inshah Malik, Kardan University Kabul, Afghanistan

Navdeep Mathur, IIM Ahmedabad, India

William Mazzarella, Neukom Family Professor of Anthropology, University of Chicago, USA

Annapurna Menon, PhD Candidate - Politics, University of Westminster, UK

Akanksha Mehta, Media, Communications and Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK

Darshana Mini, University of Southern California, USA

Kalyani Devaki Menon, DePaul University, Chicago, USA

Amina Mir, PhD Candidate, Politics, University of Westminster, UK

Touseef Mir, International Development, University of East Anglia, UK

Moujan Mirdamadi, Lancaster University, USA

Deepti Misri, University of Colorado Boulde, USA

Satya Mohanty, Professor, Cornell University, USA

Carlos Morelli, University of Dundee, President UCU, Scotland

Yasir Muhammedali, Media activist from Syria

Sreyasi Mukherjee, Independent scholar, Calcutta, UK

Mantra Mukim, English, University of Warwick, UK

Mariyeh Mushtaq, Birkbeck, University of London, UK

Najeeb Mushtaq, New Delhi, India

Sadaf Mushtaq, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi, India

Zacharia Nahouli, Psychology PhD, University of Westminster, UK

Nithya Natarajan, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

Sumaira Najeeb, New Delhi, India

Khairunnisa Nakathorige, MANUU, Hyderabad, India

John Narayan, Birmingham City University, UK

Immad Nazir, Kashmir

Goldie Osuri, Sociology, University of Warwick, UK

Idrisa Pandit, Independent scholar, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Ankur tamuli Phukan, independent researcher

Jasbir Puar, Professor, Rutgers University, USA

Fayaz Peer, New Delhi, India

Samina Raja, Independent Researcher, Buffalo, NY, USA

Nirmala Rajasingam, South Asia Solidarity Group, UK

Anubha Rana, SOAS, UK

Meghana Rao, Azim Premji University, Bangalore, India

Gayatri Reddy, University of Illinois, USA

Ricardo Rios, PhD. Candidate in Communications (UFJF, Brazil) and M.A in International Relations (PUC Minas, Brazil)

Rakhshan Rizwan, Comparative Literature, Utrecht University, Netherlands

Cabeiri Robinson, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, USA

Tania Saeed, Sociology, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Pakistan

Parag Jyoti Saikia, Ph.D. Candidate, Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA

Parismuta Singh, Writer.

Leon Sealey-Huggins, University of Warwick, UK

Palvashay Sethi, Lecturer IBA

Ali Seyedrazaghi, Philosopher and Historian

Sanjay Sharma, Azim Premji University, Bangalore, India

Abhra Singha Roy, Media and Culture Studies student,TISS, Mumbai, India

Ghulam Shah - Vistula University, Poland

Svati Shah, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA

Toyba Shah, New Delhi, India.

Sarbani Sharma, New Delhi, India

Marina Sofi, Chicago, USA

Michael Szpakowski, UCU Branch Chair, Writtle University College, UK

Tarangini Sriraman, Azim University, Bangalore, India

Deborah Sutton, Lancaster University, UK

Pyoli Swatija, Advocate, Supreme Court of India

Mehroosh Tak, University of Edinburgh, UK

Vinicius Tavares, International Relations Professor at PUC Minas, Brazil

Anand Vivek Taneja, Vanderbilt University, USA

Teodora Todorova, University of Warwick, UK

Sharika Tiranagama, Stanford University, USA

Nishita Trisal, Anthropology, University of Michigan, USA

Amit Upadhyay, TISS Hyderabad, India

Nishant Upadhyay, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Boulder, USA

Zahrah Sehr Vayani, Barrister at law, Attorney at Law, New York and Advocate High Courts Pakistan. University of Manchester, Inns of Court School of Law, UK

Suchitra Vijayan, Barrister, Founder and Executive Director, The Polis Project, USA

Frederiek de Vlaming, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Phibamanbha Wahlang, Pondicherry University, India

Sahil K. Warsi, Independent Anthropologist, London UK

Saira Weiner, John Moores Liverpool University, UK

Kalpana Wilson, Birkbeck, University of London, UK

Mohisen Zargar- Poznan University Poland

Ifsha Zehra, Kashmir

Ather Zia, University of Northern Colorado, USA

-------

Abdulsalam Dallal

Jamal Jnied

Sheyrwan Haydar

Ali Seido

Khalil Qssab

Ahmad Qassab

Saba Yasin

Aiswarya S - TISS Mumbai

Imran Bakhroo - Businessman - Warszawa Poland

M Ghazali Khan, Editor Urdu Media Monitor

Eram Durrani

Sheeba Shah

Deachen Angmo, TISS student

Shayan Mahfooz Ansari, Engineer, Singapore

Aqeel Shah

Ahmad Jouma Moustafa

Geetika Kaushal

Mohammd Al-Abadlla

Qurat ulain, New Delhi- India

Zaynah Rehman, Westcliff High School student

Fayaz Najar :

Fiza Rasool, Civil Servant, London

Wamiq Bashir, Enterprise Architect, Valtech, London

Zayd Rasool, Director IT services, GSK, London

Tariq Rehman, Leo Pharma

Aadam Rehman, University of Portsmouth Student

Mossab Briej

Faisal Rehman, University College London Student

Ruby Rehman, Care UK

Tehmeena Khan, Housewife

Samiullah Najar, Almarai KSA

Alia Andleeb UEA,UK.

Amir Farooq, Transport Consultant, AECOM Ltd, Birmingham, UK

Adil Yousuf.

Asma Muzaffar. NYU College of Dentistry.

Ümit Yıldız ,Edge Hill University, UK

Unaiza Qayoom

Wasiq Majeed Wani, Vistula University, Warsaw - Computer Engineering.

Maryam Mir, University of Leeds student

Ibrahim Mir, Woodhall Student

Mansoor Rehman, Worker at Next

Zaihum Abbas, GC University Lahore.

Aatif Farooqi

Muhamad ebrahim Alhamada

Angbeen Atif Mirza, SAHSOL, LUMS, Lahore

Amrit Wilson, Writer

Rajesh R., Chennai

Anupama Potluri, Hyderabad, India

Umar Khan

Gwendolyn S. Kirk, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan

Abdulfatah Yousfi, Uni

Rana Nabi, Together 4 Good, UK

Rubia Abrar UK University.

Shayan Rajani, History, Lahore University of Management Sciences

Kalpana Palanisamy. Sathyamangalam. Erode

Chitra Ganesh, Visual Artist, USA

Hoda Bandeh-Ahmadi, Director of Social Research, Center for Surgical Training and Research, University of Michigan

Balan, Tamizh National People's front

Prof-Anandi, MIDS, CHENNAI

Guneet Kaur, International Human Rights Researcher, and Lawyer, Delhi

Yengkhom Jilangamba, TISS, Guwahati

Manu, Student, Chennai Mathematical Institute

Kavin Malar, Writer/Journalist

Kasali meeran.i / Tamilnadu Vice president cfi

Amir Malik, ACJ,Chennai and JNU, New Delhi, Journalist/Activist

Garima, University of Delhi, India

Huda Bhurgri- Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Pakistan

Archana Bidargaddi, software professional, Norway

Shayma S, JNU

Waseem R S Research Scholar JNU

Shmyla Khan, BNU, Lahore

Bindu K. C. Ambedkar University Delhi.

Palvashay Sethi, Lecturer IBA

Saher Qarini, Law, Unive

Deepan, Chennai Tamilnadu

Rubia Abrar , UK

Anuradha Potluri, Hyderabad

Abdul Aijaz, GC University, Lahore

Aswathy Raveendran, BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

Suneetha Eluri, New Delhi

Waseem R S Research Scholar JNU

Aditi, New Delhi

Nazia Amin, IIT Delhi

Rajendran Narayanan, Bangalore

Ajith Cherian