Washington, D.C. August 5, 2025. (TW News) __ Digital advertising trucks Tuesday displayed around this capital city carried messages such as “Abrogation of article 370 is a joke: Kashmir needs to be set free from Indian yoke;” “UN resolutions succinctly state: Kashmir is not an Indian protectorate;” “Ethnic cleansing and demographic changes are shame: Indian government should accept the blame;” “Kashmir issue cannot be forsaken: It is a powder keg that will have world shaken;” “Kashmir Facing Existential Threat: United States Needs to Act;” “Indian propaganda needs to be dispelled: Voices for free Kashmir cannot be quelled;” “India – Release all political prisoners unconditionally.”

Sardar Shoaib Irshad, General Secretary, Kashmir American Welfare Association (KAWA) said that some reliable sources suggest that a mobile billboard truck generally delivers around 70,000 impressions during 8-hour period in a city like Washington, D.C. or New York City.

Shoaib Irshad added that the Trucks were rented by the World Kashmir Awareness Forum, a Washington-based advocacy body, and put on road as most tourists both American and foreign were out of their homes and hotels, flocking to parks, museums for a brief respite from the daily drumbeat of unsettling news at home and abroad.

Sardar Zarif Khan, Advisor to the President of Azad Kashmir said that it is a fact that abrogation of article 370 and 35 A was an act of aggression and assault on the rights of the people of the State. Such attempts are in open contravention of UN resolution #91 of 1951; #122 adopted on January 24, 1957. These resolutions prohibit any unilateral action to change the disputed nature of the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

Sardar Zarif added that an authoritative pronouncement of Mr. Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations (contained in the press briefing on August 8, 2019) rejected the unilateral action of Prime Minister Modi when he said: “The position of the United Nations on this region (Jammu & Kashmir) is governed by the Charter of the United Nations and applicable Security Council resolutions.”

Dr. Ghulam N. Mir, President, World Kashmir Awareness Forum said that revocation of article 370 and 35-A semi-autonomous state of Jammu and Kashmir by Modi government on August 5, 2019, can only be described as a first step towards integrating Kashmir into India. However, the people of Kashmir have historically resisted Indian hegemony in the region.

Dr. Mir added that since its annexation on August 5, 2019, Kashmir remains in administrative and legal limbo. Governance is arbitrary and peace and justice remains elusive. With the world now chaotic and world order nearly crumbling, Kashmiris find no recourse but to resist for their own survival as a century’s old historic nation in its own right— separate, sublime and distinct and sublime faith and culture. As India tries to erase Kashmiri culture and identity, our people must and will resist.

Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman, World Forum for Peace & Justice said that on the morning of August 5, 2019, the people of Jammu and Kashmir woke up to a reality forced upon them, not by their consent, but through military orders and political betrayal. Without asking the people, and in an open defiance of Kashmir’s special status under its own constitution, India’s Parliament removed Article 370 and Article 35A, the laws that recognized Kashmir’s unique identity and gave it control over residency, land, and cultural protection.

Dr. Fai elaborated that for seventy-eight years, Kashmiris have waited for justice. We cannot be asked to wait seventy-eight more. The time to act is now. Only then will the people of Kashmir live in freedom, dignity, and peace, and only then will the world show that its commitment to self-determination and human rights is more than empty words.

Dr. Imtiaz Khan, Kashmiri American scholar said that today marks the sixth anniversary of abrogation of article 370 and 35A by Presidential Order under Article 370(1)(d). Obviously, this was undemocratic and unilateral decision that thumped the nose of international community in general and United Nations in particular. About 200,000 additional troops were pumped into already overmilitarized zone and if there was a slight suspicion of anybody demonstrating, that person was picked by the armed forces and thrown into far flung jails. It is believed that thousands of youth have been incarcerated and where there are living in dingy conditions and subjected to daily torture.

Dr. Khan maintained that Kashmir issue is reaching a boiling point and leaving it unresolved has catastrophic implications. Recent incident in Pahalgam is a testimony for the potential murky outcome of this problem. It took serious confabulations by President Trump to avoid nuclear conflagration that could have engulfed the region.

It is highly exigent that United Nations adopt a tough line against India for adopting a hubristic attitude and avoiding a dialogue with genuine leadership of Kashmir to reach to an acceptable solution to this intricate problem that can otherwise lead to apocalypse for not only the region but majority of world population.

Sardar Zubair Khan, Director, Community Affairs, Voices of Justice in Kashmir said that the game plan of Modi government in Kashmir is to change the demography of Kashmir. Youth are especially targeted and during army search operations they are arrested and eliminated in the army camps. The hapless people of Kashmir are beseeching the freedom loving people to raise their voice at the important corridors of power, be it Washington, London, Brussels, Paris, Tokyo or else.

Sardar Aftab Roshan Khan, well-known community organizer said that the people of Azad Kashmir have the genuine love and affection for the people of Indian occupied Kashmir who have given enormous sacrifices, and our responsibility is to listen to the cries of the innocent people coming from the Valley of Kashmir.

Raja Liaqat Kiyani, President, Kashmir House, Maryland said that our objective of peaceful protest is to draw attention of the United States to the situation in Kashmir and to exert pressure on the government of India to resolve dispute and help stop human right violations in Indian occupied Kashmir.

Tahseen Hussain, a civil rights advocate said that the atrocities committed by Indian occupation army in Kashmir are continuing in an unabated manner. Unfortunately, India has felt no pressure whatsoever from the world powers to desist from its semi-genocidal campaign.

Dr. Fai is also the Secretary General, World Kashmir Awareness Forum.
He can be reached at: WhatsApp: 1-202-607-6435. Or. gnfai2003@yahoo.com
www.Kashmirawareness.org