Jammu and Kashmir’s social activist and journalist Yana Mir was honored with the Diversity Ambassador Award in the UK Parliament. Ms Mir’s speech opposing “propaganda” against Jammu and Kashmir is going viral, where she said she is “not Malala Yousafzai”, Pakistan’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has taken refuge in Britain.
At an event organized by the Center for Jammu and Kashmir Studies, UK, Ms Mir said, “I am not Malala Yousafzai… because I am safe and free in my homeland Kashmir, which is part of India. I would never do that. ” Flee your homeland and seek refuge in your home country (UK). I can never become Malala Yousafzai.
Ms Mir criticized the Nobel laureate for “defaming” India by calling Kashmir “oppressed” and said, “I object to all such toolkit members of social media and foreign media who have ever visited Kashmir in India. Didn’t care to do anything but fabricated stories of oppression… I urge you to stop polarizing Indians on the basis of religion. We will not allow you to break us.”
She ended his speech with a request and said, “Stop coming after us and let my Kashmir community live in peace.”
The video has been viewed over one million times on X (formerly Twitter). Yana Mir said in her response to the video, ‘Malala theory was given to her by her sister.’
Ms Mir received the Diversity Ambassador Award from UK MP Theresa Villiers in the presence of Bob Blackman and Virendra Sharma, both MPs in Parliament. Virendra Sharma is a British-Indian MP, the opposition Labor MP for Ealing Southall, near London.
Many users, including actor Anupam Kher, congratulated Ms Mir on X
Jammu and Kashmir Studies Center (JKSC), UK hosted ‘India’s Pledge Day’ at the House of Commons of Parliament in London. JKSC is a think tank dedicated to studying issues in and around Jammu and Kashmir.