The World Kashmir Diaspora Alliance held a peaceful demonstration on Tuesday in the front of UN’s office in Brussels

The demonstrators Lodged protest on the use of UN’s blue helmets by the Indian forces in Kashmir. Addressing the demonstration, Mr.Ali Raza said, purpose of the demonstration in front of United Nation Office in the Belgium’s capital was to record the protest against the use of UN’s helmets and shields by Indian forces and raise the voice against the atrocities going on in the Indian held Kashmir.

Meanwhile WKDA spokesman Mr. Nasim in NewYork said that United Nation official Spokesperson in New York also has been apprised by Farooq Papa head of WKDA about the unauthorised use of UN equipment and has demanded clarification from official spokesman’s office. In an a telephonic conversation with Ms. Siddall in United Nations, Farooq Papa said that using of United Nation equipment by Indian Forces in Kashmir, against the demonstrations that have been going on amounts to giving an impression to the people of Kashmir that UN is backing the use of force against them. I am perturbed about such act which is in contravention to International law, while it also effects the image of UN said Farooq Papa during his conversation .I also presume that UN has not authorised Indian forces to use these helmets in Kashmir. Your clarification will go a long way in restoring the confidence in UN particularly in that part of the world and it will be highly appreciated by kashmiries. Said Farooq papa in his brief.

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Washington, D.C., August 8, 2010. Kashmiri Americans held a peace rally in front of the Embassy of India to record their protest against human rights violations and reminding Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India that his promise of zero tolerance has not seen the light of the day. The demonstration was highly impressive and reverberating with the slogans of “Indian Army Go Back.”

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We all are well aware of the political status of Jammu & Kashmir; the people understand it more clearly than the politicians, who often mould and interpret the political status of Kashmir that suits in their own political agenda and perspective. The agenda is always a driving force that focuses on an objective that a political party has to realize. In Kashmir, unfortunately the political agenda of parties invariably in most cases gets reduced to personal agenda’s of political leaders that head the parties, understandably in a society that struggles to live in fear psychosis. But I have failed to understand why this culture of personal agenda has crept outside Kashmir.

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David Cameron’s words are being used to justify Indian repression in Kashmir

Kashmiris may have become the unintended victims of David Cameron’s verbal attack on Pakistan, which has encouraged the hardline Indian establishment to continue to brutalise Kashmiris in the Kashmir Valley, an open-air prison camp much like Gaza.

As a salesman determined to shift as much deadly weaponry as he could, including Hawk fighter bombers, it was not surprising that Cameron chose to ignore the suffering in Kashmir. By blaming Pakistan, Cameron not only fed India’s national paranoia about Pakistan, but also shifted the focus away from Kashmir and the increasing death rate of its civilian population, which otherwise might have received some media attention.

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Indian troops and police have killed fifteen people in Kashmir since June, sparking widespread protests. The Indian government has imposed a strict military curfew in the area as well as a media gag order on local journalists. The international community has remained silent on the human rights abuses in Kashmir.

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By Michael Shank. Edited by John Feffer,

Noam Chomsky is a noted linguist, author, and foreign policy expert. On April 26, Michael Shank interviewed him about relations between India and Pakistan. This is the second part of a two-part interview. The first part, on the Iraq War, the World Bank, and debt, can be found here.

Michael Shank: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri cites a sea change in India-Pakistan relations, agreements have been forged requiring a pre-notification of missile testing, and both countries will soon engage in a fourth round of composite dialogues. What else needs to happen to provide a positive tipping point in Indo-Pak relations?

Noam Chomsky: There are a couple of major problems that need to be dealt with. One of them, of course, is Kashmir. The question is, can they figure out a joint solution to the Kashmir conflict?

There are other questions: about energy integration, for example, pipelines going from Iran to India. India and Pakistan are now joint observers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which, if it works, will tend to bring about closer integration of the Asian countries altogether. So is Iran, and the Central Asian states, China of course, and Russia too. So it’s basically the whole region except for South Korea has joined. And Japan probably won’t join.

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Indian troops and police have killed fifteen people in Kashmir since June, sparking widespread protests. The Indian government has imposed a strict military curfew in the area as well as a media gag order on local journalists. The international community has remained silent on the human rights abuses in Kashmir. We speak with Kashmiri journalist Basharat Peer, author of Curfewed Night: A Frontline Memoir of Life, Love and War in Kashmir.