International
Kashmiris rallied for Burhan Wani as G20 protests raged in Hamburg, Germany
Hamburg, Germany: Kashmiris from different parts of Europe today held a remembrance meet in Hamburg “in honour of martyrs of Kashmir”. The rally followed a fiery night of protests that rocked the city as leaders of top economies met.
Students and professionals of Kashmiri origin, and supporters from Pakistan and Germany participated in the remembrance meet at the time when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was attending the G20 summit only a few miles away in the Hamburg Congress Centre.
FPK Photo
According to a report in AlJazeera, marine police units intercepted 22 divers from the environmental pressure group Greenpeace who had also been trying to reach the concert hall. The protesters used innovative methods and dressed up as zombies to show their anger against the leaders, in a protest campaign called ‘welcome to hell’.
On a very different note, and much less charged, the rally for Kashmir was a peaceful one. The participants included activists from Tehreek-e-Kashmir Germany, Kashmir Society Denmark, JKLF-Belgium among others.
The activists then subsequently participated in a demonstration rally taken out today on the sidelines of the ongoing G20 summit in Hamburg.
FPK Photo
The permission was withdrawn after the Indian High Commission in London wrote to the UK Foreign Office to register its protest.
According to a report in the Indian Express, “India protested to the UK over a planned rally to mark “Burhan Wani Day” in Birmingham on Saturday, questioning how the British government can allow the “glorification of terrorists” on its soil.”
Burhan was killed last year on July 8, in an encounter with the Indian Armed forces, catalyzing a massive uprising and prolonged period of curfews and shutdowns across the valley, in which as many as 85 people were killed and thousands of others were injured in daily clashes between the Indian Armed Forces and the protesters for a period of over four months.
