Prime Minister of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6

The Right Honourable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

We write to you as Canadians deeply troubled by the events that have unfolded in Kashmir over the last 5 months.

On August 5th, after emptying the Valley of all non-Kashmiris under a pretense of a false security threat, India unilaterally announced a move to scrap Article 370 of the Indian Constitution by passing the Jammu and Kashmir State Reorganization Act in the Indian parliament. This article guaranteed an autonomous status to the region of Jammu and Kashmir and prevented any non-Kashmiris from settling in Kashmir. India also bifurcated the territory into Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir as separate regions. The region of Jammu & Kashmir, as you are aware, is an internationally recognized disputed territory under UN resolutions 39 & 47. The current illegal and unilateral move on India’s part is aimed at changing the demographics of the region to meet the ultra-nationalist, majoritarian agenda of the right-wing BJP government. Recent developments in India have seen a repeated otherization of minorities which was cemented by passing the Citizenship Amendment Act on December 10th. This law is in contravention with international statutes and deeply discriminatory on the lines of religion.

We appeal to you to help end the crisis of Kashmir. We would urge the Canadian Government to:

Make a public statement about the crisis in Kashmir and urge the government of India to lift all restrictions on the local populace, remove the communication blackout, and roll back all illegal changes made to the status of the region.
Sponsor a parliamentary resolution condemning ethnic and religious bigotry promoted by Prime Minister Modi and his government.
Request the Foreign Affairs Committee to hold a hearing on the crisis in Kashmir that escalates the threat of nuclear war between India and Pakistan.
Urge India to end the communication blockade and restore the fundamental rights of life, liberty, education, access to health care, and freedom to peaceful assembly, to the Kashmiri populace.
Push for demilitarized Kashmir and partner with the United Nations to activate the Kashmiri right of self-determination.
End the harsh laws such as the Public Safety Act of 1978 that permits arbitrary detention and the Armed Forces Powers Act of 1990 which grants absolute impunity to the military and paramilitary forces.
Allow a group of non-partisan Canadian lawmakers, independent human rights observers and journalists into Kashmir for a firsthand assessment of the ground situation.

Kashmir is the world’s most militarized zone on earth. Kashmiris have lived for decades under Indian military rule of terror—an omnipresent army of occupation, a well-developed surveillance state, with torture and rape used as weapons of war. India has paid no heed to the latest UN OHCHR reports.

No independent international assessment of the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir has been allowed by the Indian government. However, at least 8 reports on human rights abuses by independent Indian civil and human rights activists have surfaced. We are attaching links to the reports in an addendum attached to this letter.

We are also including updated reports on the situation produced by KSCAN, an interdisciplinary group of scholars from various regions engaged in research on the region of Kashmir. If you need any other information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

It is time for Canada to play its role in the just settlement of this protracted dispute that has left over a hundred thousand Kashmiris dead, tens of thousand’s maimed, thousands disappeared, tortured, and raped. At present, the besieged population of Kashmir is at the absolute mercy of an army that enjoys impunity in Kashmir, and no one is speaking for them.

Kashmiris have been silenced at gun point; let the conscientious people of Canada take a principled stand prioritizing the fundamental rights of the people of Kashmir over economic and strategic interests. Canada’s role as a peacemaker is well known around the world. This the time for Canada to demonstrate leadership in averting an impending nuclear disaster that will threaten the whole world.

Sincerely,
Canadians For Peace and Justice in Kashmir (CPJK)

Copied to:

Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister

Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Honourable Andrew Scheer, Leader of the Opposition; Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada

Jagmeet Singh, Leader of the NDP

Jo-Ann Roberts, Interim Leader of the Green Party of Canada

Yves-François Blanchet, Leader of the Bloc Québécois

Marc-André Blanchard, Head of Canada's Permanent Mission to the United Nations

Human Rights Senate Standing Committee, c/o Chair Wanda Elaine Thomas Bernard

This appeal is endorsed by the following organizations:

If any other organizations wish to support this appeal, please send your endorsement to contact@cpjk.org

Justice for All Canada

https://www.justiceforallcanada.org/

Just Peace Advocates

http://www.justpeaceadvocates.ca/

Addendum

Important KSCAN Reports: The Kashmir Scholars Consultative and Action Network is an interdisciplinary group of scholars of various nationalities engaged in research on the region of Kashmir. Their research on the Kashmir conflict addresses its history, its consequences for the region and beyond, and its possible resolution. It examines the implications for an internationally mediated political solution and is of relevance to policy makers.

For regular Crisis Updates

https://kashmirscholarsnetwork.org/kashmir-crisis-updates/

2019 Human Rights Review in Jammu and Kashmir

https://jkccs.net/annual-human-rights-review-2019-2/​​

Report on Access to justice and legal developments under Kashmir siege Dec. 4, 2019

https://kashmirscholars.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/note-on-access-to-justice-and-legal-developments.pdf

A report on militarization of education

https://kashmirscholars.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/impact-of-militarization-on-children-of-kashmir-a-report-by-mirza-saaib-beg.pdf

Fact sheet on the history of Kashmir and the current siege

https://kashmirscholars.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/fact-sheet-kashmir-dispute-and-the-current-siege-1.pdf

FAQs on the history of Kashmir and the current siege

https://kashmirscholars.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/kashmir-dispute-and-the-current-siege-faqs-updated-nov.12.pdf

Resolving Kashmir: A guide by Kashmir Scholars

https://kashmirscholars.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/resolving-kashmir-kscan-final.pdf

Latest United States Congressional Hearings on Kashmir:

Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, United States House of Representatives Hearing
on JAMMU AND KASHMIR IN CONTEXT November 14, 2019

https://humanrightscommission.house.gov/events/hearings/jammu-and-kashmir-context

October 22, 2019 Hearing on “Human Rights in South Asia: Views from the State Department and the Region”, US House of Representatives

https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/2019/10/human-rights-in-south-asia-views-from-the-state-department-and-the-region

Human Rights and civil society observers Report on the current siege:

Imprisoned Resistance: A comprehensive report on Kashmir after August 5

https://kashmirscholars.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/imprisoned-resistance-5th-august-and-its-aftermath-reprt-octr.-31-2019.pdf

Kashmir Caged; A Report on the ground situation; August 23, 2019

https://www.nchro.org/index.php/2019/08/14/kashmir-caged-a-fact-finding-report-by-jean-dreze-kavita-krishnan-maimoona-mollah-and-vimal-bhai/

Women’s Voice: A report on the ground situation in Kashmir, September 24, 2019

https://en.maktoobmedia.com/2019/09/24/full-text-womens-voice-fact-finding-report-on-kashmir/

Kashmir Civil Disobedience: Trauma, resistance, resilience–Two months on: A citizens’ report, October 12, 2019

https://kashmirscholars.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/kashmir-civil-disobediance-a-citizens-report.pdf

Kashmir Crisis: A report by Nitya Ramakrishnan (Advocate) and Nandini Sundar (Sociologist), October 13, 2019

https://kashmirscholars.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/nitya-nandini-report-on-kashmir-public.pdf

My world is dark: A report by the Association of the Parents of Disappeared People on state violence and pellet firing shot gun victims, October 2019

http://apdpkashmir.com/my-world-is-dark-state-violence-and-pellet-firing-shotgun-victims-from-the-2016-uprising-in-kashmir/

Imprisoned Resistance: 5th August and its aftermath

https://kashmirscholars.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/imprisoned-resistance-5th-august-and-its-aftermath-reprt-octr.-31-2019.pdf

120 Days: August 5 to December 5

https://kashmirscholars.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/apdp-report-9.12.19.pdf

Concerned Citizens Group of India publish a report on the visits to Kashmir, December 18, 2019

https://kashmirscholars.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/apdp-report-9.12.19.pdf