Sohail Anjum Malik
Brussels, Chairman Kashmir Council EU Ali Raza Syed has called on the international community to put pressure on India to release world-renowned Kashmiri human rights leader Khurram Pervez and other Kashmiri human rights activists and Kashmiri political leaders, political workers and journalists.
He said this after attending the Martin Ennals Award ceremony in Geneva. The Martin Ennals Foundation presented the award to Khurram Parvez, who is also the head of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), for his valuable services to the human rights of Kashmiris.
Eminent Kashmiri activist Khurram Pervez could not receive the “Martin Ennals” award in Geneva in person due to his imprisonment in an Indian jail in New Delhi. Another human rights activist and campaign manager of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman, received the award on behalf of Khurram Pervez. After receiving Khurram Pervaiz’s award, Ashrafuzzaman read Khurram Pervaiz’s message and also talked about his difficulties in jail. In his message, Khurram Parvez thanked the award committee of Martin Ennals Foundation for conferring this prestigious award. He said that although the voice of Kashmiris is not being heard in the world, this award is an acknowledgment of the unheard suffering of Kashmiris for many decades.
Chairman Kashmir Council EU Ali Raza Syed said that the human rights violations in Occupied Kashmir have been highlighted in this award ceremony and it was also told in the event that Khurram Pervaiz, who has been imprisoned under baseless accusations for the past fifteen months, is living in a critical condition in the India’s Rohini prison. It was told in the event that how Khurram Parvez struggled to present the facts about human rights violations in Occupied Kashmir to the whole world. The unbiased reports on human rights violations prepared by Khurram Pervez and his team are the documentary evidence of Indian atrocities against the oppressed people of Kashmir. Organizers of the event also demanded early release of Khurram Parvez.
A documentary on the rights of people in Occupied Kashmir was also screened during the event in Geneva, which talked about the Kashmir conflict and how the people of Occupied Kashmir have been suffering from this dispute for seven decades?
Chairman Kashmir Council EU said that the manner in which Khurram Parvez’s struggle for human rights was described in this international event and the award was presented to him, is a great acknowledgement and this will give recognition to the rights of Kashmiris at the international level.
In the ceremony, it was told what difficulties Khurram Parvez and his team had to go through while working for human rights. Even before his current imprisonment, he was arrested and prevented from traveling abroad.
