PARIS: A large number of Pakistanis, Kashmiris, Arabs, and French people gathered on Sunday here at Paris's main railway station to protest against the month-long lockdown in Indian-occupied Kashmir and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's fascist policies.
People chanted slogans not just against India but also against the western powers that are relatively silent considering that Sunday marked the 35th consecutive day of a communications and media blackout in the Muslim-majority Himalayan region.
It has been more than a month since August 5 when India scrapped Article 370 in occupied Kashmir, imposed a curfew, and cut all contact with the outside world by suspending Internet and mobile phone coverage.
Condemning India's unilateral move and the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC) session in New York, demonstrators in Paris demanded the French authorities to intervene and help resolve the political and humanitarian crisis in occupied Kashmir.
Holding the flag of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Rana Abbas — a 47-year-old resident of Paris hailing from Faisalabad — told Geo News that he would come to each and every protest against India's aggressive and violence-based policy in Kashmir.
The protest rally, organised by International Kashmir Peace Forum France (IKPFF) in collaboration with Justice et Droit Sans Frontières France, started at Gare de l'Est and ended at Place de la République in central Paris.
At the famous République, IKPFF President Zahid Hashmi addressed the crowd and vowed to resist and fight as long as India's occupation of Kashmir continued. "We are ready to give sacrifice for our beloved land," he said.
"The Kashmir issue should be solved according to the UNSC's resolutions," Hashmi added, as participants chanted slogans against India's atrocities in occupied Kashmir.
https://www.geo.tv/latest/247053-french-rights-groups-march-against-indias-occupation-of-kashmir
