‘Pictures Speak for Kashmir’ wins hearts

ISLAMABAD: Seizing the opportunity of human right discussion at the UN Geneva headquarters, Kashmiri activists have come up with a novel idea of releasing of five verified, credible pictures every day for a month on social media as part of a campaign titled ‘Pictures Speak for Kashmir.’

The campaign has attained wide popularity among the human right champion across the world. The use of a Palestinian girl’s picture at UN by Pakistan has triggered a worldwide debate on pellet victims in Kashmir. The pictures of the oppressed people taken by photographers working on the ground in Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) for known international news agencies, are verified, dated, and captioned, documenting Indian human rights violations in the international conflict of Kashmir.

The campaign has been launched by Youth Forum for Kashmir (YFK), an international lobby group that unites young activists from Azad Kashmir, Indian Held Kashmir, Pakistan, India and the world. The group is focused on bringing peace to South Asia by resolving Kashmir conflict through the implementation of UN resolutions on a referendum in Kashmir.

Shaista Safi, a young activist from Baramulla, of IHK and Ghulam Shabbir, a young activist from Pakistan, are leading the campaign. “A picture is worth a thousand words,” said Shaista Safi, adding, “We saw how one picture created a global buzz when Permanent Representative of Pakistan to United Nations Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi triggered a debate at UNGA. 

To keep the momentum, YFK–International Kashmir Lobby Group YFK launched a social media campaign called Pictures Speak for Kashmir.” Shabbir said the campaign will run on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #KashmirPictures and urged all users and supporters worldwide who have sympathy for the human rights to click on the hashtag and share the posts.

The YFK has appreciated Pakistan’s recent efforts at the United Nations headquarters during the UN General Assembly (UNGA) summit debate where Kashmir issue was raised emphatically on various echelons. Pakistan’s permanent representative (PR) Ambassador Dr Maleeha Lodhi played a lead role in it.