The People’s Rights Movement currently underway in Pakistan-administered Jammu Kashmir under the platform of the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee is no longer confined to the boundaries of the state. The voice emerging from the People’s Rights Movement, the demands of the people, and the international solidarity being expressed with them have reached different parts of the world. Yet, it would be too simplistic to measure this international dimension merely by counting the number of demonstrations. The real significance lies in the fact that, alongside Kashmiris living in different parts of the world, non-Kashmiri citizens, political and progressive organisations, workers’ organisations, human rights activists, journalists, intellectuals and various sections of civil society are also expressing solidarity with the People’s Rights Movement in different ways.
The strongest dimension of this international solidarity is the role being played by Kashmiris themselves living overseas. The people of Jammu Kashmir who have settled in different countries in search of employment, education and a better future have not remained indifferent to developments in their homeland. In different countries and cities, they are holding protests and gatherings, contacting parliamentarians and human rights institutions, submitting memoranda, and seeking to inform international public opinion about the People’s Rights Movement in Jammu Kashmir, its demands and the reasons behind them.
According to figures compiled by overseas Kashmiri circles, a large number of demonstrations have taken place outside the state in different countries, continents, cities and regions. Although there is no single comprehensive and independently verified global list covering all these demonstrations, documented examples from the United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other locations clearly demonstrate that overseas Kashmiris continue to raise their voices in support of the People’s Rights Movement.
From demonstrations in London, Birmingham and Manchester to Barcelona in Spain and Geneva in Switzerland, Kashmiris continue to raise their voices. The gathering of hundreds of Kashmiris outside the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva demonstrates that overseas Kashmiris are seeking to take the concerns of the People’s Rights Movement beyond their own communities and place them before international institutions. Similarly, the Kashmiri community in Toronto, Canada, and people in various other locations have also expressed solidarity with the People’s Rights Movement.
However, this international voice is not limited to Kashmiris. Political and progressive organisations in different countries are also expressing solidarity with the People’s Rights Movement in their own ways. In some places, statements of support are being issued; elsewhere, resolutions are being adopted, articles and analyses are being published, people are participating in solidarity demonstrations, and workers, students, human rights activists and civil society groups are raising their voices.
Within this broader international solidarity, the participation of activists from the Revolutionary Communist Party is also noteworthy. In the United Kingdom, its activists have participated in solidarity demonstrations in London, Birmingham and Manchester, standing alongside the people of Jammu Kashmir. In Canada, the organisation has also formally expressed solidarity with the People’s Rights Movement in Jammu Kashmir. However, the support extended by the RCP represents only one part of the wider picture of international solidarity, rather than the whole picture.
Similarly, the International Labour Network of Solidarity and Struggle, associated with the global labour movement, has expressed solidarity with the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee and the people of Jammu Kashmir, while calling upon workers’ organisations, social movements and democratic institutions around the world to extend their support. Other international progressive organisations, including the Fourth International, have also expressed solidarity with the People’s Rights Movement and its demands. Such support is significant because it means that the issue of Jammu Kashmir is moving beyond discussion within the Kashmiri community and reaching international labour, democratic and human rights circles.
Any conscious person in the world can understand that raising one's voice for fundamental rights is a right that belongs to every human being.
In Argentina, progressive political circles have also raised their voices concerning the ongoing People’s Rights Movement in Jammu Kashmir. Similarly, in different parts of Europe, activists supporting human rights and political freedoms have expressed their views about the People’s Rights Movement. Taken together, these examples demonstrate that different channels of international support and solidarity are emerging around the ongoing People’s Rights Movement in Jammu Kashmir.
This raises an important question: why are overseas Kashmiris and citizens of different countries around the world interested in the People’s Rights Movement? The answer may be quite simple. When the demands of a movement concern electricity, food, healthcare, education, employment, public resources, political representation, accountable governance and fundamental human rights, their resonance cannot remain confined to a single geographical region. Any conscious person in the world can understand that raising one’s voice for fundamental rights is a right that belongs to every human being.
This is why the role of overseas Kashmiris assumes exceptional importance. They are not merely representatives of their homeland; they are also part of the societies in which they live. They should organise their voices, speak on the basis of facts and documented evidence rather than emotion, maintain contact with parliamentarians, political parties, journalists, human rights institutions and civil society in their respective countries, and continue informing the world about what the people of Jammu Kashmir are demanding through the People’s Rights Movement and why they are demanding it.
It is equally important that international solidarity with the People’s Rights Movement should not become a source of hatred against any country, nation or people. The fundamental principle behind supporting the rights of the people of Jammu Kashmir should be that human rights standards must be equal for everyone. If the fundamental rights of people in Palestine are defended, they must also be defended for the people of Jammu Kashmir. If the world raises its voice against state repression, violence or violations of civil liberties in one part of the world, the same principles must also apply to Jammu Kashmir.
The Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee and the people of Pakistan-administered Jammu Kashmir who are participating in the People’s Rights Movement express their gratitude to all those overseas Kashmiris who are standing alongside the people of their homeland and taking time from their busy lives to support their struggle. At the same time, the entire Kashmiri nation expresses its gratitude to all non-Kashmiri citizens, political activists, workers’ organisations, progressive parties, human rights activists, journalists, intellectuals and representatives of civil society who, without any personal interest, are listening to the voice of the people of Jammu Kashmir on the basis of humanitarian and democratic principles and are seeking to carry that voice forward.
But gratitude also brings responsibility. This solidarity should not remain limited to a single day, a single demonstration or a single statement. As long as the people of Jammu Kashmir continue to raise their voices through the People’s Rights Movement for their fundamental rights, a dignified life, accountable governance and a fair share in their own resources, overseas Kashmiris and people around the world who stand in solidarity with them should also continue their peaceful and principled support.
Today, two interconnected voices can be heard, both inside and outside Jammu Kashmir. One is the voice of those standing on their own land for their rights, while the other belongs to those standing in different cities around the world and saying: We hear your voice. We are becoming your voice.
That is the true strength of any People’s Rights Movement.
The people of Jammu Kashmir are not asking the world for any special favour. They simply want the same human standards to be applied to them that are recognised for every human being in the world. Wherever a human being lives, they are a human being; and their fundamental rights remain fundamental human rights.
It is this very principle that is carrying the voice of Jammu Kashmir beyond local boundaries and into cities, societies and institutions across the world.
Comments (0)