Fast For Freedom: Return Our Political Prisoners, Return Our Martyrs’ Remains
[via Huma Dar]
For us, Azadi [independence] means not just to get rid of the foreign occupation of our beloved motherland but also to remove hunger, poverty, ignorance and disease, and to overcome economic and social deprivation [i.e., class and caste inequities]. One day, we shall achieve that Azadi!” ~ Shaheed Maqbool Bhat.
To commemorate the 1st anniversary of Shaheed Afzal Guru’s martyrdom (Feb 9, 2013) and the 30th of Shaheed Maqbool Bhat’s (Feb 11, 1984), we will offer daily fasts and various sit-ins this month leading up to February 11, 2014, in Kashmir and across the globe!
* We demand the immediate return and release of Shiekh Farhat and Shiekh Imran who are political prisoners incarcerated in a West Bengal jail, and the release of ALL our political prisoners — including the leaders of our resistance kept under illegal and indefinite house arrest, and hundreds of juveniles kept under brutal conditions.
* We also reiterate our demand for the return of the last remains of Shaheed Maqbool Bhat and Shaheed Afzal Guru, illegally kept at Tihar Jail, Delhi, against their families’ explicit desires.
This is an event for Kashmiris and all friends of Kashmir to show solidarity, to protest its illegal occupation by India, the illegal detention of thousands of Kashmiri political prisoners, and the incessant human rights abuse, including mass graves, fake encounters, forced disappearances, rapes, torture, and daily humiliation, under the ongoing military occupation.
Please JOIN US and widely share the event!
We are marking the month long run-up to Feb 11, 2014 by conducting sit-ins and daily fasts across the globe. In the coming weeks please join us for a symbolic fast on one or more days. You may also participate in, or organize, sit-ins, share information about this commemoration, and encourage others to join! Please ask your family, friends and colleagues to show both on-ground and online solidarity with the movement for the liberation of Kashmir, which is symbolized by our martyrs and those incarcerated, maimed, disappeared, orphaned, and widowed, all of whom we remember and honour today, and always!
If you intend to fast, please send any of the event hosts information about which particular day(s) you want to fast, and optionally a short statement of your reasons for doing so. Each day we will highlight the names of people fasting for this commemoration and their respective statements.
Details about dates and venues of the sit-ins in Kashmir and outside will be posted as soon as they become available.
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