On August 5, 2019, the BJP government read down Article 370, abrogated the constitution of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, divided the state into two union territories, and since then added to the extreme misery of the people.
It imposed a lockdown on the entire state and the people, closing down all means of communication, restricting the movement of people and goods, and arresting thousands of people including politicians, journalists, lawyers, teachers, social activists, youth, and even minor children.
As lies and false narratives continue, the government keeps claiming that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has become ‘normal’. However, even after two years, the claims of “normalcy” by the BJP government remains hollow. News reports and reports by independent fact-finding teams of civil society have brought out factual accounts of the horrific violence by members of the state’s armed forces, illegal arrests, nightly raids on the homes of people, and the beating of men, women, and children. Jammu and Kashmir has been reduced to a highly militarised police state, where the armed forces and the police’s rule is supreme.
This August 5,2021, will be the second anniversary of the day when the BJP abolished the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir and partitioned the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Unfortunately, the legal challenge to the abrogation of Article 370 submitted before the Supreme Court has remained unattended to date.
We request that you join the civil resistance symbolism and wear a black band on August 5 as a mark of solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Also, please take a photo of yourself showing the black band and a small placard saying, “We stand with Jammu & Kashmir” or “in solidarity with the people of J&K”.
Please send the photo to PIPFPD (pipfpd.india@gmail.com) and kindly circulate it through your social media, tagging PIPFPD, so that we can amplify the same. The world needs to know that resistance to violent authoritarianism is as alive in India, as it is in J&K.
Please circulate this message widely among friends and colleagues.