AMP Condemns Indian Aggression in Kashmir, Stands in Solidarity with the Kashmiri People

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 8/7/2019)—American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), a national organization dedicated to advancing the movement for justice in Palestine, stands in solidarity with the people of Kashmir who, like Palestinians, have long resisted a brutal military occupation and struggled for self-determination for more than 70 years. AMP further condemns the recent aggression by the right-wing Indian government which has issued a series of unconstitutional presidential orders as part of a policy that is disturbingly reminiscent of Israel’s settler-colonial project in the West Bank.
 
On Monday, the Indian government abolished decades-old provisions that allowed the Kashmiri state a measure of autonomy. By revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and the control over who is a legal permanent resident and thus eligible to buy land under Article 35A, the Hindu nationalist ruling party in India seems to be making good on campaign promises to build exclusive Hindu settlements in the Muslim-majority region. But the Indian government’s adoption of the Zionist settler-colonialist model is no coincidence. In recent years, India has become both a strategic ally to and top arms customer of Israel, spending over $700 million annually on weapons from the Apartheid state. Like Israel, the Indian government has brazenly violated several UN resolutions and human rights conventions—most recently with its brutal crackdown and planned land annexation just days ahead of the largest Muslim holiday. Deploying 38,000 troops and tanks in the occupied state, already known for being one of the most densely militarized regions in the world with an estimated 700,000 soldiers permanently stationed there, the Indian government has placed 7 million people under curfew, shut down media, internet, cell phone and landline service—a frequent tactic it employs against the Kashmiri people to isolate them—and has evacuated thousands of Indian students, tourists, and Hindus from the region under the guise of an alleged “terror threat”.  

AMP is deeply concerned for the safety and security of the Kashmiri people who continually face ethnic cleansing by a brutal occupying power. Given that the West and the U.S. government, in particular, have not only turned a blind eye but actively enabled Israel’s settler colonialism and racist policies against Palestinians, it comes as no surprise that the right-wing ruling party which campaigned on xenophobic and anti-Muslim message in the so-called “largest democracy in the world” has become emboldened to enact its own violent and inhumane agenda.    

AMP reaffirms its support for the Kashmiri people in their struggle for freedom and calls on all advocates of justice to join us in some planned actio
ns next week (TBA) in support of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters.

 For further resources and information on this developing issue, visit www.standwithkashmir.org and SoundVision’s Kashmir page which include immediate actions you can take along with talking points, background, and links. Finally, join the social media campaign in support of the Kashmiri people by using the hashtags #RedForKashmir, #StandWithKashmir, and making your profile picture red as a show of solidarity.

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