Thank him for co-hosting the hearing but ask him why he keeps referring to the disputed territory of Kashmir as an internal matter of India. Educate him on the history of Kashmir. He sees Kashmir as a part of India as ranking member needs to hear from Kashmiris and others. Constituents should schedule and go visit and take our leave behind packet and dossier on Kashmir.
Representative Yoho kept deflecting criticism of India and the oppression of Christians, Muslims, Sikhs and Dalits in India by focusing on terrorist groups in Pakistan. Ask him why Christian lives in India don’t matter to him?
Sample Calling Script
“We thank you for calling for India to remove the restrictions it has placed Kashmiris under. But we strongly disagree that the Kashmir issue should remain between India and Pakistan and that repealing Article 370 was within India’s means. As historical context shows and the internationalizing of this issue since the 1947 U.N. resolution granting a plebiscite and self-determination to the Kashmiri people, 70 years later this is an issue for the world to take on. Kashmiris have been denied the right given to them by the International stage, and have endured years or unseen military occupation in the region. With 800,000 troops, for 8 million Kashmiris in the region, India has been on the offensive and is implicit in decades of human rights abuses. At the height of the Iraq war, there were only 200,000 soldiers in the region, what is the need for 800,000 troops for 8 million people? We ask you, what does this excessive show of force mean for the every day lives of Kahsmiris?”
Ted Yoho (Ranking Member of Subcommittee on South Asia)
- Florida’s 3rd congressional district Republican
- 1730 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
- Phone: 202-225-5744