Kashmiri activist and journalist Yana Mir condemned Pakistan's efforts to destroy India's image internationally through alleged propaganda and said, "I am not Malala".
Mir in her speech recently claimed that she is safe and free in Kashmir unlike noble laureate Malala Yousafzai who she said had to run from her native country for her own safety.
Yana Mir was speaking at 'Sankalp Divas' event in London which was hosted by the Jammu and Kashmir Study Centre UK in the British Parliament.
She reportedly urged the global media to not put the people of Jammu and Kashmir through divisions of religion.
Mir said, "I am not a Malala Yousafzai. I am not a Malala Yousafzai, because I will never have to run away from my home country."
"I am free, and I am safe in my country India, in my home in Kashmir which is part of India," she added.
Malala Yousafzai was targeted by a Taliban assailant in the Swat Valley, Pakistan in 2012 for challenging the Taliban's prohibition on girls' education, resulting in her being shot in the head.
Following the attack, Malala moved to the United Kingdom and subsequently joined the University of Oxford. This led to her becoming the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, at the age of 17.
Yana Mir further said targeting the noble laureate, "But I object to you, Malala Yousafzai, defaming my country, my progressing homeland, by calling it 'oppressed'. I object to all such 'toolkit members' on social media and 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 grounds of religion, we won't allow you to break up us", added Yana Mir, "I hope our perpetrators living in the UK in Pakistan will stop maligning my country".
Mir asked Pakistan to 'stop coming for us(Kashmiris)', she said, "Stop unwanted selective outrage, stop trying to polarise Indian society by reporting from your UK living rooms. Thousands of Kashmiri mothers have already lost their sons because of terrorism. Stop coming after us and let my Kashmiri community live in peace. Thank you and Jai Hind."
Excerpts from her speech has circulated on social media and has become popular with praises across the country.
She expressed gratitude to Sajid Yousuf Shah, the head of BJP media in Kashmir, and shared the process behind drawing a comparison to Malala Yousafzai.
On a post on X Mir wrote, "Thank you, Sajid, for pushing me to go here, when I was depressed after we lost Dad. I wouldn't have reached here if it wasn't for you. Also, this Malala theory was given to me by my sister. So a person is nothing, without family support."
The JKSC, which organized the Sankalp Divas gathering in the UK, is a research institute focused on analyzing the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
