Calgary, AB, December 25, 2019

 Subject: We request the Canadian government to impose economic sanctions against India due to the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) and the NRC.

Dear Honorable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,

On 5th August 2019, the Indian government revoked the special status given to Kashmir under article 370 of the Indian constitution. This move by Modi’s government is against UN Resolution 47: the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP). The UN Security Council passed Resolution 47 on 21 April 1948, after the war, to bring peace in the region, it gave the people of Kashmir the right of self-determination. On August 5^th, 2019 Kashmir became the most militarized regions in the world. A month ago, there were reports of more than 300 girls being kidnapped and sent to army installations. Over 3000 people, aged 15-35 years have been captured and moved throughout India. In addition, 182 youth have been killed in Indian jails due to the crackdown in Jammu and Kashmir. The area has been subjected to over 150 days of media blackout and curfew. This move played well with Modi and the BJP’s voter base, majority of which identify as Hindu Nationalists. The military lockdown and communication blackout imposed by the Indian government since last month has crippled life in the Muslim-majority Kashmir region. The use of pellet guns on protestors has also been prevalent.

The rise of a powerful brand of Hindu nationalism has raised concerns of fascist elements within India’s leading political party, the BJP. In the past Modi has been accused of inciting violence against the Muslim population of Gujrat in 2002. His inaction as the chief minister of the state earned him condemnation from the west. His far-right Hindu nationalist views can be traced back to his days in the training camps of RSS, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the right-wing Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organization that is widely regarded as the parent organization of the BJP, Modi’s political party.

On August 31^st, 2019 under the National Register of Citizens (NRC) nearly 2 million Muslims in the state Assam were denied citizenship, at the same time the Indian government began constructing detention camps for them. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which was enacted into law on 12^th December 2019 will not grant citizenship to Muslims in India, rendering them stateless.

Modi’s India is increasingly being seen as rigid, anti-Muslim and a Hindu Nationalist state. During partition of India in 1947, an estimated 20,000-100,000 Muslims were massacred in Jammu at the hands of RSS to make a homogenous and politically unified India. The same political agenda is respected by the current Indian government and the Kashmiri population is at risk, again. International condemnation, and action is necessary to prevent the next genocide of Indian Minorities.

List of necessary actions needed to prevent the genocide in Kashmir and India:

1. Declaration of RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) as a terrorist and extremist organization.
2. Declaration of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) as a sympathizer of extremism.
3. Declaration of Narendra Modi, leader of the BJP, as a Hindu extremist.
4. Imposition of economic sanctions against India.
5. Request for Immediate withdrawal of Indian forces from Kashmir, and restoration UN Resolution 47.
6. Negotiation of safety measures to prevent the imprisonment of 2 million Muslims in the state of Assam.
7. Granting of Immediate access to international media to enter Kashmir.
8. Declaration of CAA as being a fundamental discriminatory act of law which undermines basic human rights.

Dr. Mukarram Zaidi
Chair, Canadian Muslim Research Think Tank, Think for Actions, chairman@thinkforactions.com

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