Malala calls on UN to take notice of Indian atrocities in Occupied Kashmir

LONDON: Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousufzai has called upon the United Nations and the international community to take notice of Indian atrocities against the people of Occupied Kashmir.

In a statement issued today, the 19-year-old tried to bring the world's attention to the decades-long suffering of her 14 million Kashmiri sisters and brothers.

She said "dozens of unarmed protesters have been killed and thousands wounded, including hundreds of people blinded by pellet guns used to put down demonstrations" in recent months.

"Kashmiris are trapped in weeks-long curfews. Many schools have been closed because security forces commandeered schools, keeping children away from their classrooms," said the teenage activist, who became the world's youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner in December 2014 for championing the cause of education among Pakistani women.

"The inhumanity and heartbreak in Kashmir must be halted. The Kashmiri people, like people everywhere, deserve their fundamental human rights. They should be allowed to speak, communicate and congregate freely. They should live free of fear and repression.

 "I call on the United Nations, the international community and India and Pakistan to work together with utmost urgency to right these wrongs, providing the people of Kashmir with the dignity, respect and freedom they deserve."

"I stand with the people of Kashmir," she said.