Sunday May 18, 2025

11:30 am EDT / 9pm IST / 8:30 pm PKT

Webinar – Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xVriTz53TMSBIgYyqgvWJQ

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/941273481310272 

This webinar will explore the background of current tensions in Kashmir, the recent military confrontations between India and Pakistan, and its impact on the lives of ordinary Kashmiris on both sides of the divide. In competing war narratives and media journalism turned jingoism, the two South Asian nuclear states erased the lives and wishes of the people of the region of Kashmir. In this panel, speakers with diverse expertise will unpack issues of international law and human rights, use of hate rhetoric to drum up support for war, Zionist tactics borrowed by Hindutva, lack of press freedom, and the erasure and silencing of Kashmiri voices.

The focus will be on the impact of the recent attacks and the changed nature of Kashmir since 2019 on the economy, demography, climate, life, dignity, and the very existence of ordinary Kashmiris. For more than seven decades Kashmiris have been treated as pawns in competing claims over their territory, resources, and sovereignty. The failure of the international community to contribute to resolving the longstanding dispute over Kashmir has cost tens of thousands of lives and has kept the region of Kashmir always on the brink of war. As proven by recent events, instability in Kashmir and potential war between India and Pakistan threatens peace in South Asia and the world. There is urgency to a just and permanent resolution of the Kashmir issue as per the wishes of the people of the region of Kashmir. Demilitarization and disarmament under neutral global supervision is urgently needed to avert war and destruction in the geopolitically sensitive region of Kashmir.

Speakers:

Omer Aijazi

Robert Fantina

Imraan Mir

Ather Zia

Speaker bios below.

Organizers:

South Asian Diaspora Action Collective (SADAC)

Kashmir Scholars Consultative Advocacy Network (KSCAN)

Just Peace Advocates (JPA)

Co-sponsor:

Canadian Foreign Policy Institute

Canadian Voices for Palestinian Rights

India Labour Solidarity

World BEYOND War