13,000 Kashmiri Boys Are Taken- Help Bring Them Back

Salam, Free 13,000 Kashmiri boys.

As we enter the 61st day of the Indian re-invasion of Kashmir we have learned that Kashmiri boys are being extra-judicially kidnapped and tortured by the Indian army. According to an interfaith delegation of 5 women leaders from India which went there for an investigation, about 13,000 children have been abducted by the army in the last 50 days. 

While kidnapping them they told the parents that, next time, their girls will be taken. 

This is a message meant to terrorize the Kashmiri population. Since 1989, there have been 11,000 gang rapes of Kashmiri women at the hands of Indian security forces. There have been over 10,000 disappearances of Kashmiri civilians. Over 20,000 women have been forcibly widowed after their husbands disappeared, never hearing from them again. They are referred to as half-widows in Kashmir.

None of these individuals have been given a trial or any kind of due legal process. Those not abducted are being tortured right on the street with electric shocks. Their cries are meant to terrorize the whole neighborhood.

None of the Indian soldiers have ever been punished for their inhuman crimes against the Kashmiris. 

How is this cruelty possible in the world’s largest democracy? Enough is enough. 

ACTION ITEM

Please visit the campaign site, www.FreeKashmiriBoys.org, to help free the 13,000 innocent Kashmiri boys who have been abducted by the Indian army since it began its illegal occupation of Kashmir two months ago.

There you can do the following: 

• Sign a petition to the United Nations and the U.S State Department
• Upload a photo of yourself holding a sign with the hashtag: #FreeKashmiriBoys; 
• If you have children, upload a family photo with the sign and hashtag;
• If your child wants to participate, have him or her write a message supporting the campaign;
• Get creative with any ideas of your own to send the message that such cruel treatment of innocent children cannot be accepted.

Additional Resources

Tools for schools: here you can find a short note introducing the campaign to save 13,000 boys for school teachers and administrators, along with a media release form so that students can participate by uploading their images.

Download the action alert here, print it and distribute it in your community.