The US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, chaired by Congressman Adam Smith, made a press release of the call made by Congressman Smith to the Indian Ambassador to the US, Harsh Vardhan Shringla.
The call by Congressman Smith to Ambassador Shringla refers to “legitimate concerns about the ongoing communications blackouts, increased militarization of the region, and enforcement of curfews” imposed on the people of Kashmir.
The statements made by the US Congressman also emphasized that the “Indian government must take steps to reduce these fears and offer greater transparency for the world to see what is happening there” while also demanding India’s “commitment to the protection of basic human rights and equal rights.” Congressman Smith also sought India’s “recognition for the potential disparate impact of this decision [Revocation of Articles 370 and 35A] on the region’s Muslim population and other minority groups.” The full statement from the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee is linked directly herein.
Chairman Smith Readout of Call With the Indian Ambassador to the U.S.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) today issued the following statement on the current conditions affecting residents in the disputed territories of Jammu and Kashmir in India.
We’re a journal dedicated to contemporary culture from Kashmir and the globe, hoping to create bridges, share ideas, build a commons grounded in the appreciation of the arts and the humanities, with a wider influx of ideas and commentary from the academic world. However, since there is an internet, mobile services and telephone blockade and the press in Kashmir isn’t allowed to operate within an environment of military curfew, no one can get a word out except state-endorsing media. People are scared, sleepless and feel besieged. We are waiting to go back to regular publication. Apologies to our contributors and readers for such irregularities.