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Five Things You Can Do For KashmirHelping our brothers and sisters in Kashmir is the responsibility of all Muslims. We must speak out against the atrocities and demand a fair settlement of the issue. Br. Ghulam Nabi Fai is the executive director of the Kashmiri-American Council (KAC) in Washington, D.C. Br. Mushtaq Jeelani is executive director of the Kashmiri-Canadian Council (KCC) in Scarborough, Ontario. Generally, the strategies they have suggested are focused on educating others about Kashmir, and applying political pressure locally to try to change the situation there. Both of them have provided practical ideas of what we can do, and in some cases
YesPakistan.com Staff has added its own ideas below: Tip #1: Inform Yourself To be able to get any message across, you have to know what you're talking about. Three websites you can consult which provide backgrounds and current developments about the situation in Kashmir are the KAC's site at http://www.erols.com/gfai/index.html, the KCC's site at http://www.kashmiri-cc.ca and http://www.ummah.net/kashmir/, maintained by Gharib Hanif. Tip #2: Write A Letter To Your MP, Senator, Or Congress Person Drafting a letter to your Member of Parliament, Senator or Congress person is the next step. Tip #3: Make Presentations Arrange a formal visit to your local MP, Senator or Congressperson to make a brief presentation on Kashmir: where it is, what's going on there, and what we should do, using the above-mentioned points. Stress that Canada, the United States and Britain all co-sponsored the 1948 United Nations resolution that envisaged a cease fire, the withdrawal of all outside forces from Kashmir, and a plebiscite under the control of an administrator that would be nominated by the Secretary General. This point should stress that Americans, Canadians and the British have a duty to Kashmir. If going alone is too daunting or difficult, co-ordinate with others and go as a group. Tip #4: Talk To The Academics Br. Mushtaq of the KCC encouraged the student community, in particular, to educate academics who specialize in South Asia, or South Asian studies about Kashmir. We should remember that academics are often considered experts in their field. Showing them another side of the Kashmir issue can help shift the perspective. Tip #5: Meet And Use The Press Making presentations to and meeting with media professionals about Kashmir is also crucial. Kashmir, as mentioned above, has been presented by the media primarily as an Indian-Pakistani dispute. Use the same above-mentioned points to emphasize that the conflict in Kashmir is about 13 million Kashmiris, their political aspirations, rights, and the human rights abuses they face. Journalists need to be informed about what's going on there and encouraged to include a Kashmiri perspective on developments in the area. If this perspective cannot be obtained from Kashmir, then direct them to organizations like the KAC or the KCC. Also, write letters to the editor and opinion pieces in newspapers and magazines about Kashmir. Respond when anyone tries to cover up atrocities, or frame this as an issue solely about India and Pakistan. Tip #6: Start A Petition There was a time when collecting signatures on a petition meant standing around for hours and hours, flagging down anyone and everyone, and convincing people that your petition was worthy of their signature. But with the advent of the internet, collecting a million or more signatures is no longer labour intensive. There are many online petition sites where you can start a petition and then email the url to everyone in your address book. Each recipient can then forward it to everyone they know and so on and so on. Anyone who's interested can go to the site, sign the petition, and make comments. Once you've collected enough signatures, you can forward the petition to whichever government agency you want. Some Important Addresses And Numbers In The United States: The White House: The US Congress: The State Department: To give your opinion on U.S. foreign policy: In Canada Government of Canada Telephone Assistance (provides numbers of people and departments in Ottawa) 613-954-8211 Website of the Canadian Parliament The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien © Copyright 2001-2007 PakAlert.Net All Rights Reserved |
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