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India: Statement by Writers and Creative Artists on Kashmir

23 September 2016

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sacw.net - 23 September 2016

We, the members of the creative community of India, belonging to various languages, regions and religions, feel deeply moved and anguished by the suffering our Kashmiri brothers, sisters, children are undergoing. It is most unfortunate, undeserved and uncalled for. We are confident that if Kashmir bleeds, it amounts to the whole of India bleeding; the Kashmiri suffering and pain, hurt and indignity are all that of India in equal measure. We wish to emphasise that India is much larger than its governments, both of State and the Centre, its security forces and its political outfits. The Kashmiri people are Indian people and we are all struggling together for making freedom, equality and justice real for everyone.

No doubt the situation in Kashmir is very complex and all kind of inside and outside forces are involved. Be that it may, we demand that peace and well being restored in Kashmir by constant dialogue ensuring respect for human dignity and dissent, empathizing with and addressing promptly grievances, acting with great restraint in provocative circumstances with ever present concern for the safety of life and limbs. All sections in Kashmir whether of the state or the people must express and vindicate faith democratic processes, mutual help and cooperation, respect for all forms of faiths, taking special care that women and children, the poor and underprivileged do not face the indignity of neglect and torture.

We strongly condemn the dastardly attack on the sleeping jawans of the Indian army by presumably terrorists from across the border supported by a foreign government and deeply mourn our gallant soldiers killed.

We also invoke the great composite tradition of Kashmiri culture Kashmiriyat to appeal to the Kashmiri creative community to assert that its contribution to the civilizational enterprise of India has been most valuable and it should continue to enrich Indian culture and life through its dynamic creativity, bold imagination and deep abiding humanity.

We are with you Kashmir as we trust you are with us; in suffering, in quest for peace, in creativity and imagination, in affirming democracy and dialogue.

Ashok Vajpeyi and 46 others [published on facebook on 22 September 2016]