-Kashmir advocacy organization calls for Kashmiris’ right to freedom of expression
By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: As the international community observed World Press Freedom Day on Monday, Pakistan expressed solidarity with the journalists serving in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir facing systematic harassment and intimidation. The Foreign Office spokesperson, in a statement, reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to Press Freedom and pay tribute to the journalist fraternity for their contributions including during COVID-19.
“This World Press Freedom Day, we reiterate our commitment to Press Freedom & pay tribute to the journalist fraternity for their contributions including during COVID19. We also express our solidarity with journalists in IIOJK who continue to face systematic harassment & intimidation,” the spokespersons said on Twitter. World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO’s General Conference. Since then, 3 May, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek is celebrated worldwide as World Press Freedom Day.
Meanwhile, a prominent Kashmir advocacy organization has called for international solidarity for human rights and freedom of expression of the people in Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), saying there is no press freedom in the disputed territory. “The Indian government uses internet blackouts, police raids, and traumatic intimidation tactics on activists, journalists and civilians to crush dissent and shield its brutal military occupation and demographic engineering,” the Washington-based World Kashmir Awareness Forum said in a statement marking World Press Freedom Day, which is being observed on Monday. “At the same time,” tit said, “the regime’s followers employ virulent online harassment to silence and discredit those who speak out, study and report on Kashmir from abroad.”
Denouncing their actions, the Forum said the extrajudicial killings, torture, disappearances, displacement and sexual violence that Kashmiris endure must be brought to light and accounted for. “Access to widespread, reliable information is a matter of life or death for more than 13 million Kashmiris, and is essential in the struggle for a just solution.” Noting that UNESCO established World Press Freedom Day in 1991, recognizing that ‘a free, pluralist and independent press is an essential component of any democratic society.’
“Thirty years later, “, the World Kashmir Awareness Forum said, “it is unconscionable for India to declare itself the world’s largest democracy when it aggressively censors and retaliates against reporting on Kashmir.
