Longford shows solidarity to Palestine in march held on Sunday

The Longford Palestine Solidarity group organised and held a march in support of Palestine in Longford town on Sunday.
The march saw over a hundred people in attendance, all showing up to show their support and solidarity with the people of Gaza and demanding an end to the genocide.

Notable figures were present at the event, like Sinn Féin Deputy Sorca Clarke who addressed the crowd and made clear that she fully supported bringing an end to the genocide.

People Before Profit General Election candidate Dave Smyth strongly condemned the genocide and demanded that the incoming government, who ever they may be take clear and decisive action.

Other election candidates Barry Campion (Sinn Féin), Deputy Joe Flaherty (Fianna Fáil) and Louise Heavin were also in attendance.

Naturally, it was an emotional day, especially for Ashley Coogan who bravely spoke about how she tragically lost a dear friend in the conflict who was killed by an Israeli bombing in Gaza.

Dr Parvez Butt, on behalf of the Longford Palestine Solidarity committee, said, “A large number of people from all walks of life and ethnicities attended the event giving a clear message that the people of Longford demand an immediate cessation to Genocide and expect their elected members to play an active role in The Dáil to raise this issue on behalf of their electorate and demonstrate to the incoming Government to play an active role in bringing about the cessation of the abhorrent Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing being perpetrated by the State of Israel.”

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He also spoke at the event on behalf of the committee.

“We weren’t there for political reasons, we were there to make sure everybody supports the cause,” remarked Parvez.
He also praised the Gardaí involvement in the event, “The Guard's were very complimentary and very helpful to us and I’m writing to them individually as well, particularly Caroline Keogh the Sergeant.

“She was very helpful and the Guards did more than we expected them to do.” He said.

Dr Butt is no stranger to standing up for victims of injustice, he is from the Kashmir region and is the chairperson of the Kashmir Peace and Solidarity Council in Ireland who have been involved in organizing multiple vigils and marches for the Palestinian people in aid of their plight.

Naturally, he and his own organisation feel a sense of kinship with the Palestinian struggle, they themselves having experienced similar conflict.

“People may not realise that the occupied Kashmir is going through a very similar situation, maybe not with the bombings but with human rights abuses and ethnic cleansing,” explained Parvez.

“People are not familiar with the Kashmir diaspora in Ireland, It’s fairly large but not substantial enough to see.

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“We have a large community here and we do a number of awareness sessions on behalf of Palestine and Gaza.”

Kashmir, is a region that sits between India and Pakistan, due to its position it has borne the brunt of many conflicts since their partition.

The region was acceded to India in 1948 after a year-long war that saw invasion from its neighbours and rebellion from its people. During this time the majority of the population was Muslim and the leader, the Maharaja was Hindu.

Since then, the region has seen three more large conflicts.

“The Kashmiri connection to Ireland goes way back,” said Parvez.

The first Kashmiri person to arrive in Ireland arrived in the late 1800s and the next two, who arrived in the 1940s, were Dr Butts cousins.

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“The first recorded Kashmiri to arrive here was a man by the name of Nizami Abdullah who arrived here in the late 1800s.
One of Dr Butt's cousins came over to Ireland via the UK in the 1940s with Chester Beatty to play a Cricket championship. He then rose the ranks of the Pakistani airforce to the rank of Commodore.

His brother who was called Mahmood Butt, but more commonly known as Mike opened a highly sucessful restaraunt in Dublin name the Golden Orient.

“Mike Butt, his name was Mahmood but he became known as Mike as he became a resident here,” Parvez tells us.

In the last month, tensions have been reheating in the region and a month ago the matter of Kashmir was raised in the Seanad by Senator Micheál Carrigy.

“We look at conflicts in many areas worldwide, but this never seems to be mentioned. A large community from the Kashmir region is living in Longford. There have been issues in that region going back 50 years between India, Pakistan and China.

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“Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have all been involved. There have been significant humanitarian issues. More than 20,000 people have died over the last few years but it is never on the agenda. I want to put it on the agenda and allow an opportunity for a discussion and to put forward our views.”

“I want to find out what is the stance of the Irish Government. It is important to schedule a debate with the Minister for Foreign Affairs to allow him to put forward Ireland's view on the current situation as it exists,” he stated.

“There is a large community in the Midlands not just in Longford,” explained Micheál “I just wanted to get, on behalf of the community that lives here, the views of the Irish government and to get a discussion on it,” outlined Senator Carrigy.

Dr Butt responded to Carrigy’s statement in the Seanad saying, “Ireland is one of the very few countries, small as it may be which has an honourable view of the marginalised.”