“I am not a Kashmiri. Mi Mumbaichi aahe.” The police filed a case of “provocation with intent to cause riot” against Mehak Mirza Prabhu for holding a “Free Kashmir” placard at a protest in Mumbai. In this video, the writer explains why she felt compelled to do what she did.
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00:00And right now, because of the internet shutdown that is there since last five months,
00:05that right is completely gone for people of Kashmir.
00:09If we say that they are our own, then we should treat them like our own.
00:31Hi, I'm Mehak. I'm a writer from Mumbai.
00:36And I'm making this video to talk about something that happened yesterday that is extremely crazy.
00:43And even more crazy is the reaction that it is receiving from people, the abuse, the hate.
00:49And the narrative that has been put out about the situation is absolutely misinterpreted.
00:55So today I want to talk about that and I want to tell what exactly happened.
01:00So yesterday, 6th of Jan, around 7pm, I reached where the protest was happening at Gateway of India in Bombay.
01:09And like anybody else who believes in democracy, I also joined that protest.
01:14So there were a lot of groups who were singing songs, we were raising slogans about all the issues.
01:22We were standing there for the justice of JNU students, we were talking about that.
01:27After that, I was moving around and I saw that there were a bunch of people who were painting placards.
01:35Placards were being made about every issue there, like NRC, CAA, JNU students of course, for whom we were there.
01:43And there was a placard on the side which said, Free Kashmir.
01:48When I saw that, I just had one thought in my mind.
01:52First of all, let me tell you that I am not a Kashmiri.
01:56My surname is Prabhu. I am a Maharashtrian. I am from Mumbai.
02:00I was born in Mumbai. I grew up here.
02:03So again, that narrative that has been put out is absolutely wrong.
02:08So when I saw this placard, the first thing that came in my mind was
02:13that we are here to talk about the freedom of basic constitutional rights.
02:19And right now, because of the internet shutdown that has been there since the last 5 months,
02:24that right is completely gone for the people of Kashmir.
02:28If we say that they are our own people, then we should treat them like our own people.
02:34They should get the basic rights that we are getting.
02:36So they should have the freedom to express themselves.
02:39And just with this thought, I picked up that poster.
02:42I was quietly standing, actually with a flower in my hand.
02:45What I meant was, let's offer peace. Let's make peace together.
02:50And that was my only intention in holding that particular placard.
02:55But that has been blown out of proportion completely.
02:59And I am not able to understand.
03:01They are saying that I am a member of some gang or some organization.
03:05I have been paid to stand there and all of that.
03:08It is not like that. You can go and see about me.
03:11I am a storyteller, so all my stories are there on YouTube.
03:15You can see what are the kind of things I talk about.
03:18I am a compassionate person.
03:20You will see my TED talk, in which you will get to know about my whole life.
03:26What I have been doing all these years of my life.
03:30But right now, the way it has gone, it is very scary, frankly speaking.
03:36I am just a simple person.
03:38As a woman, it is scary for my safety right now.