Kashmir protest victory for democracy India humiliated

MEDIA DESK: SAKAG & KCAU

South African Kashmiri Action Group

0826916048

www.kashmir.co.za

The planned peaceful protest held on Thursday, 27th October 2010, was almost disrupted by officials at the Indian High Commission. They used their political muscle and influence in high office to intimidate the protesters. They even used an official from South African Police Services to bully the peaceful protesters into submission.

Officials of the Indian High Commission asked members of the SAPS to throw the protesters out and to disband the gathering. The convenors of the gathering, Mr. Salman Khan and Mr. Umar Farooq were confronted by the SAPS and asked to leave. Mr. Khan explained that permission to hold the demonstration was granted and that they had every right to hold the protest. They were asked to hold the gathering at a nearby Rose Garden. They refused to do so. The SAPS officer threatened to have them arrested.

Tempers flared and it took the intervention of a senior SAPS Colonel to resolve the impasse. He studied the notification granting the permission and allowed the protest to proceed in front of the Indian High Commission. Viva Democracy!

Officials of the Indian High Commission should realise that civil liberties will not be trampled upon in South Africa as it is commonly done in India.

The Noisy protest group numbered about 50 people. The plight of the oppressed people and their fight for self determination of the Kashmiris was highlighted. In the latest uprising in the Kashmir Valley, July/August/September 2010, 150 civilians were killed by the military and paramilitary forces of the Indian Government.

Mr. Salman Khan said that the Commonwealth Games, currently being held in New Delhi, India, makes a mockery of democracy.

“We have always, right from the beginning accepted the idea of the Kashmiri people deciding their fate by a referendum or plebiscite……………….” Jawaharlal Nehru, in London, January 1951.

These and other sentiments expressed by India’s first Prime Minister have been ignored for six decades.

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The aspiration of the Media Review Network is to dispel the myths and stereotypes about Islam and Muslims and to foster bridges of understanding among the diverse people of our country. The Media Review Network believes that Muslim perspectives on issues impacting on South Africans are a prerequisite to a better appreciation of Islam.