Kashmiri Hindus in Toronto Demand Political Empowerment of Displaced Community

Indo-Canadian Kashmir Forum (ICKF) and Kashmiri Overseas Association of Canada (KOAC) held a successful rally in Toronto, Canada outside Indian Consul General’s office highlighting the plight of the aboriginal people of Kashmir, the Kashmiri Hindus and Sikhs, who were driven out of the valley by armed Islamic fundamentalists in January 1990.  Demonstrators holding placards and banners expressed their concern over Government of India’s indifference towards their plight and demanded that they should be given the Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) status that will pave the way for their political empowerment in the state legislature. These Kashmiri aboriginals continue to live in refugee camps in Jammu, Udhampur and Delhi regions and are scattered all over the country and the Government of India continues to call them “Migrants” in official documentation.  The placards highlighted the ethnic cleansing aspect of Hindus and Sikhs by Islamists and reiterated that they were forced to leave the land of their ancestors at gunpoint and that they did not leave on their own accord as the word “Migrants” would suggest.

Reiterating their demand of safe return to Kashmir with honor and dignity, volunteers and activists chanted slogans, Vande Matram, Bharat Mata Ki Jai, Kashmir Se KaniyaKumari Tak Bharat Aaek Hai, etc. to assert that aboriginal Kashmiris were the founding members of 8000year old Indian civilization.

The ICKF President, Dr. Ashok Koul, in his speech towards the end of the rally expressed hope that the government of India will address the demands of Kashmiri Hindus and reserve legislative assembly seats for the displaced community while in exile. He also suggested that all Muslims in the valley do not support fundamentalist views and these included Kashmiri Sufis, Gullar-Bakarwals of the Valley, Shias and a lot of other educated Sunnis. ICKF President also condemned the role of certain Kashmiri separatist and pseudo-secularist politicians from the valley in engaging in false propaganda including Jammu Kashmiri Liberation Front (JKLF) and Hizb-ul-Mujamidin (HM), both Islamic terrorist organizations, and their supporters living in Canada. ICKF and KOAC supporters also expressed hope that Government of India will truly reestablish the secular traditions of the state and treat each and every citizen equally rather than indulge in vote bank politics and refrain from implementing policies to appease the Islamists and anti-national politicians. This will hurt the union of India in the long run.

Photos of Protests

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