A speech by Kashmiri activist and journalist Yana Mir in the UK Parliament went viral as she concluded it by asserting that she is not a Malala Yusufzai and she will never become one because she is free and safe in Kashmir, in India. “I am not a Malala Yusufzai because I am free and I am safe in my country, in my homeland Kashmir, which is part of India. I will never need to run away from my country and seek refuge in your country, honourable MPA. I will never ever be a Malala Yusufzai but I object to Malala Yusufzai defaming my country, my progressing homeland by calling it oppressed,” Yana Mir said.
“I object to all such toolkit members on social media and from foreign media who never cared to visit Indian Kashmir but fabricate stories of oppression from there. I urge you all to stop polarising Indians on the grounds of religion. We won’t allow you to break us,” Yana Mir said at the Sankalp Divas event held in the UK Parliament.
While the speech went viral, many social media users claimed that Yana Mir is not a Kashmiri Muslim and her actual name is Yana Mirchandani.
BJP media in-charge for Kashmir Sajid Yousuf Shah said because of the viral speech, Yana Mir already received threats. “Two minutes of Yana Mir’s @MirYanaSY video in the UK Parliament has taken the internet by storm. Pakistan and its propaganda machinery have issued threats to #YanaMir. It seems the “Toolkit gang” has been quite active for the past 48 hours. More power to you Yana,” he tweeted.
In the viral speech, Yana Mir said she hoped that perpetrators living in the UK and Pakistan would stop maligning India in international media or on international human rights forums. “Stop unwanted selective outrage. Stop trying to polarise Indian society remotely from your cosy UK living rooms. Thousands of Kashmiri mothers have lost their sons already because of this dark hole of terrorism. Stop coming after us. Let my Kashmiri community live in peace,” Yana said.
Who is Yana Mir? Going by her social media profiles, Yana Mir is a Kashmiri activist, political analyst, TedX speaker and journalist.
