Black flags were hoisted in the Kashmir University, at the call of the banned Kashmir University Students Union, to protest the visit of Pranab Mukherjee. 

KUSU also gave a successful call for a ‘black week’ and the valley witnessed a complete shutdown to protest the visit of the Supreme Commander of the Indian armed forces. In the past few days Kashmir University had been turned into a garrison with sharp shooters, specially trained commandos and dozens of paramilitary troopers posted in the university to prepare for the President’s visit. The servile university authorities even gave the information of the students to the intelligence supposedly to save themselves of any ‘embarrassment’ at the time of the President’s visit. But despite all the attempts of the Indian state to browbeat the students into not protesting against the President’s visit, the students successfully hoisted the flags at numerous places. The mercenaries of the Indian state quickly got into action to save themselves of the ‘embarrassment’, but the flags and the defiance they symbolized could be seen across the university.

Each and every flag black flag that came up in the Kashmir University to protest the visit of Pranab Mukherjee screamed what the Kashmiris have been saying for more than half a century. The black flags and badges symbolized the determined fight of the Kashmiris against Indian occupation and for their right to self-determination including the right to secede from the Indian union. Kashmir right now remains the most militarized zone in the world and the crimes of the Indian state in Kashmir have surpassed even that of Pinochet’s Chile.The struggle of the Kashmiris for this basic democratic right to decide their own collective future and destiny has been met with all the military might of the Indian state. But all the brute force of the Indian state, with the overt and covert assistance of its imperialist masters has not been able to crush the aspirations of the Kashmiris. The current protests of the KUSU once again exemplifies this.

DSU appeals to all progressive & democratic sections to stand in solidarity with the people of Kashmir in their fight for self-determination including secession.