South Asia Solidarity Initiative

We got unexpectedly delayed in releasing this episode, but we are so glad to share with you our discussion! In this episode, SASI collective members -- Azad Ali, Muriyum, Nangeli and Sheila – talk about SASI’s biggest lessons and challenges while supporting Kashmiri liberation over the past year. We talk about our own personal journeys, our own decolonial awakening about Kashmir. When did you realize that Kashmir is not a part (integral or otherwise) of India or Pakistan? How does liberalism feed into a narrative of the Indian army as a necessary, benevolent force of good? We talk about Bollywood movies like Mission Kashmir (an otherwise forgettable movie) that pushed a larger construction of this “kind army men” even as the military commits atrocities with impunity. We also talk about the counter-arguments that we have all heard thousands of times on the question of the Kashmiri Pandits.

In this episode, we are excited to be joined by guests --- Kashmiri scholars Profs Mohamad Junaid and Deepti Misri who are in conversation with SASI members, Azad and Mustafa. The episode provides a breadth of historical context to understand the current occupation – from the period prior to and after the partition. We learn about the use of enforced disappearances to crush resistance and the steady march towards settler colonialism through the abrogation of 370 last year. Have a listen! This episode is part of a two part series on Kashmir. The second part will dwell into SASI's personal perspectives from collective members on our own decolonial awakening around Kashmir.

During August 2020, we organized a couple of major protests in New York City. The first one was on Aug 5th, and it was a counter-protest against the fascist spectacle in TSQ, inaugurating the Ram Mandir on the one year anniversary of Kashmir's annexation. We also held a candlelight vigil in Jackson Heights, Queens, NY on Aug. 15th - to ask the question Independence for whom? In this episode, we process these protests and their political contexts. Collective members (Chaya, Nangeli, Nufail and Theresa) discuss frustrations, challenges and joys of the August protests.

In this episode, we discuss why we hated the Netflix show, Never Have I Ever, and the limitations of representation politics. Collective members (Sheila, Nufail, Nangeli and Theresa) talk about its many Sanghi tropes and hollow understandings of representation. We reference a couple of articles in the show: Never Have I Ever Seen a Show so Casteist & Racist by Monica M (Wear Your Voice, May 2020) How Brown Girl Solidarity Harms Us by Thenmozhi Soundararajan and Sharmin Hossain (Wear Your Voice, March 3, 2020).

SASI collective members (Chaya, Nufail, Sheila and Theresa) discuss the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement, our experiences with the protests in New York City during a pandemic, thoughts on the numerous solidarity groups in formation and how Hindutva groups have been using #blm to further fascist agendas.