Painting exhibition shows solidarity with Kashmiris

Br Jamila Achakzai

Islamabad: First Lady Samina Alvi on Thursday said the Kashmir freedom struggle had inspired poets, painters and writers to produce creative works expressing through words, image and symbol their solidarity with the brave Kashmiris, who wanted to assert their human dignity and win acceptance for their fundamental right to life and liberty.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of an exhibition of painting and photographs titled 'Paradise Stolen' arranged by the Pakistan National Council of the Arts here at National Art Gallery, the first lady said all great resistance movements in history had left their mark on art and the Kashmiri freedom movement was no different.

“The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been a subject of dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947,” she said.

The first lady said the atrocities against Kashmiris in the occupied Kashmir were heart-rendering. She said the state had become a battleground, with Kashmiris fighting every day for their freedom. "It is no secret that the basic right to life and liberty has been stripped away from the people of Indian occupied Kashmir.

"They (Kashmiris) have to fight the Indian military to survive. They are being tortured and assaulted by the occupied forces. These unarmed innocent civilians have been the victims of brutalities since 1947," she said. The first lady said the artists, painters, and poets saw the world with a contemplative eye.

The first lady appreciated the PNCA director-general for curating the exhibition and his team to put up the heart-gripping photo exhibition together to mark the current rights crisis in the occupied Kashmir.

"The world community should play its role in protecting the human rights of Kashmiri people and to live peacefully according to their own wishes," she said. PNCA Director General Syed Jamal Shah said artists were the most sensitive part of society and worked for peace and harmony.

"We believe in justice and equality and have been against oppression and brutal actions anywhere in the world. Today’s exhibition is to show the world the humiliation faced by the residents of the occupied Kashmir at the hands of the Indian forces," he said.

The PCNA DG praised the artists including Saleema Hashmi, Ghulam Rasool, Ali Raza, Mansoor Rahi, Hajra Mansoor, Ustad Bashir Ahmed, Mobeena Zubari, Rahat Saeed, Amna Ismail, Shabaz Malik and Anwar Saeed for reflecting the atrocities against and agony of Kashmiri people through colors.

"These photographs show the true stories of innocent Kashmiri youth and children asking for the immediate world attention towards the denial of basic necessities of life to them," he said.