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Pakistani singer Hadiqa Kiani’s tribute song to July 13 Kashmir Martyrs removed from YouTube

Pakistani Singer Hadiqa Kiani’s new song that paid tribute to July 13 martyrs of Kashmir was removed from You Tube yesterday.

In her song tiled “Daimi Bahar” that translates to “Eternal Spring,” Hadiqa along with a Turkish singer Ali Tolga paid tribute to Kashmir’s July 13 Martyrs.

Martyr’s Day, Youm-e Shuhada-e Kashmir is observed on the 13th day of July to commemorate the 22 martyrs who were killed during a protest against the Dogra regime in 1931.

Hadiqa took to Instagram yesterday to express dismay over You Tube’s censorship. Posting a story on Instagram, Hadiqa wrote: “Our tribute to Kashmir was removed from YouTube a few hours ago. There seems to be a systematic silencing taking place but we will not be silenced because our message is of love and peace.”

Hadiqa Kiani has received numerous local and international awards and also has performed at the most prestigious venues in the world, including Royal Albert Hall and The Kennedy Center.

Her songs like Boohey Bariyan and and Dupatta won her international fame and acclaim.

Kashmir Civitas, an international civil society committed to moral upliftment & economic empowerment of Kashmir, had released the video on their YouTube channel.

The song was widely shared over Internet within hours of its upload. Pakistan’s President, Arif Alvi praised the song on the micro blogging site Twitter writing: “An Excellent Song to recognise the struggle of the oppressed people of Kashmir. Inshallah their dream, as sung, of the ‘Eternal Spring’ will come true. Definitely a heart warming rendition. The oppression of brutal, fascist, killing & raping India will end & Kashmir shall be free.”

Kashmir Civitas took to twitter to call out censorship and tweeted, “The hindutva fascist government of India is trying every sneaky trick in the book to muzzle the voices of Kashmiris. Our journalists, photographers and videographers are been harassed and silenced so that the truth doesn’t come out. WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED.
NEW VIDEO COMING SOON!”

Soon after tweeting, the channel then reuploaded the video on You Tube.

Kashmir Civitas told Free Press Kashmir that they won’t pursue this matter to ensure the security and safety of Kashmiri artists, videographers, photographers and journalists who were involved in the making of the song.

While the Kashmir Martyr’s Day was commemorated all across the globe by Kashmir Diaspora, it was for the first time since 1948 that there was no official ceremony in Kashmir.

July 13 was also removed from the list of gazetted holidays after the abrogation of Article 370.

 

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