Qazi Zaid
NEW DELHI
A silent protest demonstration against civilian killings and alleged human rights violations in Kashmir took place at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia, USA on Sunday, August 28.
The focus of the protest demonstration remained the blinding of the people by the use of the pellet gun, pump-action guns that releases multiple projectiles and has blinded over 150 people in the past 50 days, which have seen 70 killings. More than 9000 people have also been injured during this time.
Organised by a group of Non-Resident Kashmiris, with a participation of non-Kashmiri human rights advocates, the protest was completely silent.
The organisers were particular about the nature of the message, and wrote on the event page that sloganeering and shouting should not be a part of the event.
London and Chicago witnessed similar events in past weeks with massive participation of non-resident Kashmiris.
The organisers of the Atlanta event said that they were concious of associating the event with the global campaign of protests launched by Kashmiris living worldwide.
The public events in major cities across the world is also being supplemented by engaging in an online campaign using hastags like #StandWithKashmir and #DisappearedKashmiris which had around 4million impressions as claimed by Kashmir crisis, an online group that coordinates information regarding campaigns for Kashmir globally.
A similar event was also organised outside the Norwegian Parliament in Oslo.
“Kashmiris and human rights activists here in Atlanta have organised this event in order to highlight the gross human rights violations by the Indian state on the Kashmiri civilians. The savage response of the state to the popular demand of Right to Self Determination is unprecedented,” said Ejaz Raboodi Gosani in a telephonic conversation.
Ejaz is a Kashmiri doctor based in Atlanta and is one of the organisers of the event.
“We appeal all those who care for human values and rights to take note of the Indian state’s gruesome atrocities in Kashmir,” he added.
