Braving freezing temperatures, Kashmiris and Pakistanis, who were joined by Sikhs, Monday staged a demonstration in New York’s Times Square denouncing Indian atrocities in Kashmir and calling on the United Nations to to honour its pledge to grant the Kashmiris their right of self-determination.
Raising vociferous anti-India slogans and waving placards, a large number of people turned up in the iconic square on a working day to show solidarity with the struggling Kashmiri people.
Their placards read: India: Honour UN Resolutions, Freedom for all, Freedom for Kashmir, Indian Forces: Out of Kashmir, No Justice, No Peace. and “Kashmiri lives matter too.”
The demonstration was organized by Kashmir Freedom Movement, an umbrella organization of all Kashmiri parties and groups. Among those gathered were Sardar Sawar Khan, a former member of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council. Among the Sikhs was Dr. Amarjit Singh, head of the Washington-based Khalistan Affairs Centre (KAC).
A huge digital billboard overlooking the Times Squares, which is usually crowded with tourists from around the world, called for an end to Indian occupation of Kashmir. It also said, “Balochistan is Pakistan.”
After Times Square, the protestors began moving towards the Indian Mission to the United Nations.
