Kashmir Lives Matter

In 2015, a harrowing picture was released of a Syrian toddler lying face down on a beach in Turkey. The world’s conscience was shaken over the body of two-year-old Ayan Kurdi becoming a symbol of the refugee crisis.

Another shocking picture has emerged from India-occupied Kashmir of a toddler sitting on the chest of his grandfather who was brutally shot dead by Indian forces. The picture of the three-year-old child has stirred anger in Kashmir as the family claims to have shot the elderly man during a gunfight.

Indian forces have claimed that civilian was caught in the gunfire and the child was rescued while others have accused him of a militant. The reports were unfounded as the victim should have remained in the car rather which was completely unscratched. His family claims that he was dragged out of the vehicle and shot dead by Indian occupation forces.

The child was visibly shaken to witness his grandfather drenched in blood. The picture of him lying on his grandfather has been widely shared on social media. However, it has failed to garner the coverage such much as Ayan Kurdu or shaken the conscious like in the aftermath of the killing of African-American George Floyd who was shot dead in Minneapolis.

Many people around the world were protesting Floyd’s killing and showing support towards the Black Lives Matter. There was no mobilization over the killing of 65-year-old Bashir Ahmed in Kashmir. Are Kashmiris the children of a lesser god? There has no global outrage, soul searching or even condemnation of the incident. We need to send the global message that Kashmir Lives Matter.

Indian forces have continued their atrocities in occupied Kashmir even during times of a pandemic. Hundreds of Kashmiris have been killed, gone missing or held in detention. Those who attended the funeral of the Bashir Ahmed staged a protest demanding freedom from India. The Kashmiris have no option but to give the right to self-determine and restoration of their autonomous status.

Indian media have continued with its irresponsible to term the innocent civilian killed as a separatist. The coverage of the incident has violated all forms of journalist ethics. On the contrary, Kashmiri journalist won the highest award Pulitzer Prize for its coverage. It’s time we acknowledge it was a cold-blooded which should be investigated and make #KashmirLivesMatter as the new top trend.