Conflict
After ‘Palestine and Kashmir day’ call, rally starts from Budgam for right to self determination
Srinagar: Declaring the last Friday of the month of Ramzan to be celebrated as Palestine and Kashmir day, the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising, Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Dr. Mohammad Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik had made an appeal to the ‘freedom loving people’ of Jammu and Kashmir to lend their full support to their resolution.
Although it is not yet clear whether this is the last Friday, rallies are said to take place at multiple places.
“Joint Resistance Leadership has decided to observe Jumatul Vida, last Friday of Ramadan which falls in 8th June as Al Quds and Kashmir day. Resolution calling for end to military occupation in Palestine and Kashmir will be presented in all mosques, shrines, Imam Baras across J&K,” Mirwaiz wrote on twitter.
Following the appeal, Maiwen Committee Tanzeemul Makatib Magam on Friday held a protest demonstration rally on the main road in Magam town of Central Kashmir’s Budgam.
The rally was held to impress upon the international community to come forward in a big way to help the people of Palestine and Jammu and Kashmir secure their “inalienable” Right to Self Determination.
Reports said that hundreds of people raising slogans against Israel and the US gathered at Magam town and protested against the brutal Israeli occupation of Palestine and recent carnage in Gaza.
This call for Kashmir Day comes at a time when the ties between Israel and India have been strengthening, leading many to wonder about the position that India occupies in the conflict ridden valley.
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Al-Quds Day started after the grand leader of the Islamic revolution in Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini designated the last Friday of Ramadhan as a day dedicated to demanding the rights of the oppressed around the world, with more focus on Palestine. This day marks widespread rallies before the Friday or Jummah prayer, holding protests against the occupation of Palestine and its people.
Rouf Dar, a reporter for The New Arab writes in an article dated April 18 intertwining the identical histories of both Kashmir and Palestine. “It stems from Kashmiris’ two-fold identification with the Palestinian people. One thread is the common religion that the two people share, a point of concurrence being the Al Aqsa mosque, the third-holiest site to Muslims all over the world. The other is the similar set of struggles waged to achieve the right to self-determination against a foreign occupier stationed on their lands based upon military might,” he writes.
Dar believes that the religion factor acts as an incentive for Kashmiris to show support and solidarity to the oppressed state.
Graffiti underlining dissent against the turmoil in Gaza is a common picture in the valley, with protests against the recent order of the US President Donald Trump designating Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine inviting widespread condemnation in the valley.
