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Tell Your Congressman to Support H. Res 1601
Washington, D.C. (July 30, 2010) -
Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) recently introduced H. Res 1601, a bill recognizing and condemning the over twenty years of human rights violations committed against the Kashmiri Pandits to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Now, HAF needs your help. Click here to send a pre-written letter to your Representative urging him or her to to support H. Res 1601.
Between 1989 and 1991, almost 400,000 Kashmiri Hindus, also known as Kashmiri Pandits, were systematically and brutally driven from their homes in India's State of Jammu & Kashmir through a campaign of murder, rape and intimidation. Over two decades later these Kashmiri Pandits, with many continuing to live in poverty-stricken refugee camps in India, have little to no hope of returning to Kashmir. The refugee camps are overcrowded, lack basic necessities such as drinking water and medicine and do not have adequate facilities for sanitation. Additionally, education and employment opportunities are severely lacking. As a result of these dire conditions, the Kashmiri Pandit refugee population faces serious health issues including a high incidence of disease, depression, stress-related problems and high death-rate.
H. Res 1601 resolves that the House of Representatives:
(1) condemns the extremist violence, lack of religious freedom, and human rights violations committed against Kashmiri Pandits, which they have endured for more than two decades; and
(2) insists that terrorist infrastructure in the region must be dismantled and terrorists should be held accountable for their actions.
The bill needs a total of 25 co-sponsors, ten of which must be from the Foreign Affairs committee, to be sent to the full House for a vote. HAF needs you to act now and tell your Representative to support this important bill.