Hum Pakistani hain! Pakistan hamara hai! (We are Pakistani! Pakistan is ours!)
Kasmiries of all ages, for months have been protesting for their freedom. They have been tear gassed, batton charged, arrested and even killed, but still they come out, and still they chant “Azadi !”. Its not surprising then, to see this Eid-ul-Fitr, Sep 2010, Kashmiry anger pouring out onto the streets in, some would say, a spectacular manner. Its not surprising to see a large Pakistani flag being raised on Lal chowk, or even people chanting “Hum Pakistani hain! Pakistan hamara hai!” (maybe they wanted to diss the Indian government bad?).
What is disconcerting though, is the senseless killings of innocent Kashmiries, the curfew (albeit a useless one) and the accusation (not so prominent at the moment) that Pakistan is behind this outburst of anger. Mr. Singh, occupation never works. What happened was long time coming, and for now it seems as if Kashmiries will settle for nothing but freedom. Good for them.
What should Pakistan do? Well, first and foremost make a consensus in our Kashmir policy, after which Pakistan will be able to support the Kashmiry cause diplomatically, and at least this time, try, to do more than just lip service. We as always should be careful, as India will accuse us for any violence in the occupied territory (although it is not so easy this time round). We should keep Azad Kashmir’s politicians in the forefront of our efforts, one of which should be to wake the world up to the Kashmiry plight. Not one western media outlet has depicted the scenes unfolding in Kashmir accurately, and not one gave it enough time. We should be working to change that. We should be working, only in support of both Azad Kashmir and Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, helping them to achieve their basic right of freedom.
“The Stone Intefada”, I heard this line on an Indian news channel, well, Kashmiries learned well from Palestine. This time round Kashmiries do have a good chance, I hope it isn’t squandered.
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