12 FACTS

  1. Kashmir is a UN recognized disputed territory.
  1. Kashmiris have the Right of Self-Determination. That is sacrosanct, undeniable and non-negotiable. This will be determined by all those who are ‘state-subjects’ according to the United Nations guidelines – hitherto agreed upon by both India and Pakistan.
  1. Kashmir is a nuclear flashpoint – India and Pakistan have fought 4 wars and the likelihood of war is ever-present.
  1. Indian Occupied Kashmir is the most militarized place on earth, with nearly 1 million Indian soldiers ominously patrolling.
  1. India has committed gross crimes against humanity. That includes the approximately 200,000 – 300,000 killed during the Jammu Massacre of 1947 and the more than 95,000+ killed since 1989, for a total of nearly 400,000 people.
  1. Mass graves in Kashmir have unearthed 6700 bodies. We call for an independent, impartial investigation to uncover this brutal reality.
  1. Genocide Watch has issued a Genocide Alert for Kashmir.
  1. In Indian Occupied Kashmir , the majority opinion is represented by the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) which includes Syed Ali Geelani, M. Yasin Malik, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and others such as Kashmiri freedom icon Shabbir Shah.
  1. Kashmir it is not a bilateral issue between Pakistan and India. And, the most important stakeholders are the citizens/state subjects of the disputed territory as well as the international community.
  1. Kashmir is a de-colonization struggle against military occupation. Our struggle needs to be framed in a way that focuses on India’s colonization of Kashmir – and rightly point out the Indian state’s hegemonic settler-colonial project. It is not a secessionist issue.
  1. Kashmir is not an integral part of India. In fact, it never was. Irrespective of the propagation of false histories that rationalize it as such. We believe that the cultural/ethnic, geographical, religious and political history of the disputed territory make this clear considering majority of ancient Kashmiris were Buddhist, not Hindu. Ultimately, this organization believes in peaceful methods of civil resistance to challenge India’s settler-colonial project.
  1. There has been a deliberate attempt to undermine Kashmiri agency and usurp our history. It must be acknowledged that Kashmiri Muslim identity is the primary, though not only, ethnic/religious/cultural identity in the disputed territory. As such, our organization believes in encouraging the development of an inclusive, pluralistic polity, that recognizes local axiology and the values and norms of the majority community, while protecting the rights of minorities.