Kashmiris sacrificing lives for freedom cause: President Alvi

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has said that Indian oppressive tactics cannot subjugate innocent Kashmiris and expressed the hope that their just struggle for the right to self-determination will soon lead to their independence.

On a social media website Twitter on Friday, the president shared an article published in New York Times carrying a set of 24 graphics by Malik Sajad, a noted Kashmiri artist and novelist, that vividly depicted the sufferings of people in Indian occupied Kashmir under what he calls the “longest lockdown.”

“Excellent Op-art opinion by Malik Sajad in (New York Times). The misery of the innocent under brutal occupation. IOK shall be free (Insha Allah),” the president remarked.

The Longest Lockdown. Life in Indian Occupied Kashmir has been punctuated by military curfews & strikes for 3+ decades. Excellent Op-art opinion by Malik Sajad in NYT. The misery of the innocent under brutal occupation. IOK shall be free انشاللہhttps://t.co/6BuLECkRU0

— Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) June 12, 2020

Malik Sajad, who worked for the Greater Kashmir newspaper as a cartoonist since he was 15, has been recording the worsening plight of the lives of Kashmiri people in his graphics, as a response to the Indian military clampdowns in the disputed region.

“Life in India-controlled Kashmir has been punctuated by military curfews and general strikes for three decades,” says a headline on the graphics published on the newspaper’s page reserved for columnists.

On March 24, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a three-week lockdown when Kashmir was already reeling under a 10 months digital and physical military clampdown, with the people continued to be denied adequate access to medical supplies and facilities and high-speed internet.

Hundreds of Kashmiri political leaders and abducted youth continue to languish in crowded jails across India, making them vulnerable to the virus.

Sajad’s graphics capture the pain of the Kashmiris people over the years as Indian security forces stepped up their oppression.