Spokesman Report
Washington, DC: The World Kashmir Awareness Forum (WKAF), a Washington-based advocacy organization, launched a mobile digital billboard campaign across Washington, DC, calling on the United Nations to fulfill its commitment to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and ensure their internationally recognized right to self-determination.
The brightly lit mobile billboards displayed powerful messages including: “Freedom of Kashmir Only Solution: Enslavement Not an Option;” “India — Release All Political Prisoners Unconditionally;” “India Involved in Genocide: Kashmiris Demand Plebiscite;” “India Stop Land Grabbing in Kashmir;” “Kashmir Facing Existential Threat: United Nations Needs to Act;” “UN Resolutions State Clearly: Kashmir Is Not an Indian Protectorate;” and “Kashmiris Demand Unrestricted Right to Self-Determination.”
The truck route included major federal and diplomatic locations such as the U.S. State Department, Capitol Hill, Library of Congress, The White House vicinity, Washington Monument, foreign embassies, Lincoln Memorial, Washington National Cathedral, the World Bank and the IMF.
“Digital awareness trucks are one of the most effective ways to reach policymakers and the public, as thousands of people see these messages while moving through government and commercial districts,” said Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman of the World Forum for Peace & Justice.
The campaign coincided with the 77th anniversary of the United Nations resolution of January 5, 1949, which mandates a free and impartial plebiscite to determine the political future of Jammu and Kashmir. “The continued denial of this right has fueled instability in South Asia and brought India and Pakistan — both nuclear-armed states — dangerously close to conflict,” Dr. Fai said.
Dr. Fai noted that since August 5, 2019 — when India revoked the autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir — tens of thousands have been detained, civil liberties suppressed, Kashmiri leadership imprisoned, and sweeping demographic engineering initiatives introduced. International human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have documented widespread abuses, he said.
Fai warned that unresolved political status of Kashmir remains a flashpoint with global security implications, having already triggered multiple wars between India and Pakistan.
Dr. Ghulam N. Mir, President, World Kashmir Awareness Forum & Executive Producer, Saffron Kingdom, an independent Kashmiri film asked: Why does the world community remain so uninformed — and in many cases deliberately misinformed — about the fate of the people of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, even after 79 years of military control and political repression? The United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) adopted resolutions on August 13, 1948, and January 5, 1949, guaranteeing the people of Jammu and Kashmir the right to decide their political future through a UN-supervised plebiscite. Yet India, through deception and calculated political maneuvering, defied both the will of the Kashmiri people and the authority of the United Nations.
The UN Security Council established UNCIP as a standing mechanism to advance a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute. However, India repeatedly adopted a Machiavellian “bait-and-switch” approach — agreeing to negotiations in principle while obstructing any meaningful progress in practice. Genuine steps toward conflict resolution and self-determination were stalled, and the people of Jammu and Kashmir continued to be denied their fundamental democratic rights. Tens of thousands of lives have been lost; multiple wars have been fought between India and Pakistan — all of which could have been avoided had Kashmiris simply been allowed to exercise the right to self-determination promised to them under international law.
To wage peace, India must abandon the path of coercion and state violence and instead choose a humane and just political settlement. Tragically, with the rise of right-wing Hindutva ideology deeply embedded within the current BJP government, such a transformation appears increasingly unlikely. Kashmiris, however, are left with no option but to continue their struggle — not out of defiance alone, but as an assertion of their existence as a people, a distinct cultural civilization, and a rightful national community.
Professor (Dr.) Imtiaz Khan, Kashmiri American scholar called on the UN Secretary-General to encourage meaningful dialogue among India, Pakistan, and the Kashmiri people, and to help create conditions for a free and impartial plebiscite as envisioned by UN resolutions. Dr. Khan also expressed concern about the broader rise of extremist political ideology in India and its impact on Muslims, Christians, Dalits, and other minority communities.
“Kashmir cries out for international engagement,” Dr. Khan said. “The diaspora, civil society, and global human rights community must unite to ensure that the promises made to the people of Kashmir are finally honored.”
Sardar Zarif Khan, newly elected President of Kashmir American Welfare Association (KAWA) emphasized that the objective of the campaign was to draw the attention of U.S. policymakers, diplomats, media, and the broader public to ongoing human rights violations in Kashmir, and to highlight what he described as preferential international treatment toward India driven by strategic and commercial interests.
Sardar Zubair Khan, head of the financial section of KAWA said that the January 1949 UN Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) resolution, accepted by both governments, constituted a binding international agreement and laid out a framework for demilitarization followed by a plebiscite. According to Sardar Zubair, progress was obstructed when India refused synchronized troop withdrawals, fearing the people of Kashmir would reject accession to India.
Sardar Shoaib Irsahd, General Secretary KAWA reiterated long-standing calls for interim humanitarian confidence-building measures, including greater access for international human rights organizations, the release of political prisoners, repeal of emergency and military-immunity laws, demilitarization of civilian areas, and reversal of demographic changes imposed through domicile and land policies.
Raja Liaqat Kiyani, President, Kashmir House, Washington said that “Kashmir today is one of the most militarized regions on earth, with an estimated 900,000 Indian troops deployed,” he added. “The silence of the international community is deeply troubling. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us, ‘The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people, but the silence of the good people.’”
