Prominent Activists Stand with Kashmir

Worldwide, August 4, 2020.

Exactly one year after the Kashmir lockdown, and the day before India revoked Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status, setting into motion demographic change and a settler-colonial project in the occupied territory, Stand with Kashmir has curated a Solidarity Video, a project uniting international, anti-colonial, anti-occupation, and indigenous struggles in solidarity with the Kashmiri people against India’s settler-colonial project.

This is a historic video that brings together activists and thinkers from Black, Indigenous, Uighur, Palestinian, and Rohingya struggles in solidarity with the people of Kashmir in their just fight for an end to the Indian occupation and the right to self-determination.

Featuring Dr. Cornel West, Corrina Gould, Aya de Leon, Omar Barghouti, Mariam Barghouti, Aydin Anwar, and Yasmin Ullah, the video is a call for solidarity among those fighting for justice in the face of systemic racism, colonialism, and genocide. It is a stark reminder that our struggles are inextricably linked, as is our liberation.

Dr. Cornel West, professor at Harvard University and a leading Black academic, states, “I am sending this strong word of deep solidarity with my precious brothers and sisters in Kashmir facing a vicious Indian occupation generating levels of domination, social misery and suffering.” Palestinian writer and activist, Mariam Barghouti, states, “I know that the plight for self-determination is difficult and oppressors rely on making their violence invisible and that they rely on making us invisible but your voices are heard and your shouts and screams as difficult as they are to utter are heard.”

It is a stark reminder that our struggles are inextricably linked, as is our liberation.

The activists draw parallels between India’s actions in Kashmir with their respective struggles, while also urging the international community to take action. “As a Rohingya, going through a process of what is called a genocide and living in fear of not being able to protect loved ones, I would never understand why the international community takes so long to respond,” Yasmin Ullah, a Rohingya activist declares. Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian human rights defender and co-founder of the BDS movement for Palestinian Rights, highlights how India “borrows from Israel’s illegal colonialist settlement book” and is now forcing demographic changes on Kashmir against the will of its indigenous people.”

Aya de Leon, a Black and Puerto Rican novelist, sends a message of hope and tells those in the struggle to “stand strong — change in coming and the world is shifting and we need to stand strong and stand in solidarity and fight for what we know our people deserve.” Aydin Anwar urges the Kashmir cause to “continue remaining strong and courageous to fight against this ongoing occupation” while highlighting a similar information blockade that exists in East Turkistan by the Chinese government. Corrina Gould, the spokesperson for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan/Ohlone, urges that “As the world is on the verge of a new beginning we must interrogate all forms of racism and we must refuse tyranny in all its forms.”

To learn more about our active Settler Colonialism Campaign, visit our campaign page here!