On Tuesday, the US House Subcommittee on Asia will host a historic hearing on Human Rights in South Asia where the issue of Kashmir will be at the center of the discussion.

Aarti Tikoo, a self proclaimed journalist, will be testifying about the situation in the region, which has been under lockdown since August 5, 2019.

Stand with Kashmir believes that her testimony has zero credibility.

Here’s why:

She’s a warmonger. This past March, she was cheering military violence against Kashmiris on both sides of the border, and was pushing for a policy that could lead to nuclear war.

And in August after Indian PM Narendra Modi stripped Kashmir of it’s semi-autonomous status, instituted a communications blackout, and sent tens of thousands of additional troops to Kashmir, she praised him and thanked him for “strengthening Indian democracy.”

She’s a hypocrite. In the past Ms. Tikoo has stated that Narendra Modi deserved imprisonment and that it’s tragic that he is free.

She also stated his gang enjoyed impunity, harassed people, and essentially destroyed Gujarat.

She denies facts. Ms. Tikoo has denied human rights abuses that are happening at the hand of Indian armed forced in Kashmir, discrediting the reporting of multiple international sources including BBC World, The New York Times and The Washington Post that has reported on human rights violations committed by Indian armed forces.

Like this Washington Post report on the use of torture in Kashmir:

Ms. Tikoo paints the freedom movement in Kashmir as religious fanaticism. This is simply not true. The freedom movement in Kashmir calls for the implementation of multiple UN resolutions and Kashmiri’s right to self determination. That has nothing to do with religion.

The freedom movement in Kashmir calls for the implementation of UN resolutions and the Kashmiri right to self-determination. What’s so religiously fanatic about that, Aarti?

She’s an Islamophobe. Aarti and her colleagues have spent years demonizing Kashmiri Muslims, playing into Islamophobic tropes. She refers to the term Islamophobia as “bullshit.”

She states Muslim societies are more patriarchal & oppressive to women. India is much worse than Malaysia, Oman, or Iran based on the UN Gender Inequality Index. She is selectively using data to justify Islamophobic perspectives.

To all those watching, attending, observing tomorrow’s hearing:

We expect Aarti Tikoo will whitewash Indian state crimes in Kashmir by justifying the brutal measures as necessary for “security” reasons, bash Pakistan and it’s support of “terrorists,” and use Islamophobic tropes throughout to justify the occupation.

There are at last 700,000 armed troops in Kashmir right now. Thousands of people, including children, have been arrested and detained without charge. And the over 80 day communications blockade of the region remains largely in place.

To suggest any of this is justified is a dishonor to the term “human rights” itself.

Stand With Kashmir is a Kashmiri diaspora-driven independent global citizen grassroots group committed to standing in solidarity with the people of Kashmir in ending the occupation and supporting their right to self-determination.

Click here for more information on Stand With Kashmir