Bring Down the Tyrant Emperor Modi: The Case for Accountability as Modi Stands Accused in South Africa: By Salman Khan
- Salman Khan Kashmir
- Dec 28, 2025
- 14 min read
“Every tyrant imagines himself eternal — until the people speak.” Salman Khan
“Justice is the first condition of humanity. Without it, there is no civilisation — only an empire of fear.”— Nelson Mandela
There are moments in history when the winds change direction. When the quiet murmurs of the oppressed gather force and become a roaring testimony. When a file, a simple dossier, becomes heavier than an empire. Such a moment arrived in Johannesburg as the G20 Summit opened its doors — and a war crimes docket, solemn and uncompromising, was placed before the highest law-enforcement bodies of South Africa.
It was not an act of symbolism. It was not a gesture of anger. It was — and remains — an invocation of law, humanity, and moral courage.
The Muslim Lawyers Association (MLA) and the South Africa Kashmir Action Group (SAKAG), under the steady leadership of Chairman Salman Khan, represented by attorney Yousha Tayob lodged a 900 pages comprehensive criminal complaint urging the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in India-Illegally-Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK).
And thus, as world leaders gathered under Johannesburg’s winter skies, a different kind of summit took shape — one between power and justice, between silence and truth. There was no fanfare from the Indian embassy to celebrate the declining popularity of Prime Minister Modi in what is known as a home for one of India's largest overseas Diasporas in South Africa a birth place of Mahatma Gandhi political self-actulasation Stadiums were filled to full capacity by members of these communities in Washington D.C., London, and Australia when he visited these countries in recent past but no stadium was full in Durban,Capetown and Johannesburg despite provincial bookings were made to welcome PM Modi in South Africa alas the lost emperor a falling of humpty dumpty Modi once sits on mighty walls of Red Fortress of New Delhi. When cracks are showing in wall it is first arrival of fall of corrupt and aging emperor.
There was no press conference or the typical Modi media spectacle he is known for; rather, he was confined to his hotel suite during the G20 summit. The organizers ensured that no media were allowed within 300 meters of him as if any journalist might shout: “Mr. Prime Minister Modi, what about your war crime docket?” at NPA and SAPS.
Despite the difficulties faced by Salman Khan Chairman of SAKAG and the MLA in securing his arrest warrant, one thing is certain: Emperor Modi Jee has been under scrutiny from global mainstream media headlines and multitude of social media platforms. The legacy of Shaheed Burhan Wani appears to be haunted over Modi in Johannesburg. This event represents a clear victory for legal advocates, South African zealous freedom fighters and freedom supporters, and Kashmiri activists alike. It was an unmatchable victory for the South African human rights activist and for the people of Kashmir.
“Oppression is not a sign of strength. It is evidence of fear.” — Desmond Tutu
“Tyrants fear the pen more than the sword, because the pen reminds them the world is watching.”
— South African Civil Society Statement
A Docket That Defies Fear
The submission to SAPS, the NDPP, and the Hawks does more than outline legal violations. It challenges the notion that any leader stands beyond the reach of justice.
“It is unthinkable that a person accused of such serious crimes could be welcomed in South Africa with immunity,” Salman Khan declared — a statement that reverberated across civil society spaces.
A thousand miles from the mountains and lakes of Kashmir, in a city built by resistance and reborn through struggle, the demand was clear: Free Kashmir from Indian illegal Occupation like Palestine from Israelis illegal occupation.
No individual — emperor or elected official — can stand above the norms that protect humanity.
The docket is anchored in some of the most powerful legal instruments the world has forged:
South Africa’s Constitution (Chapter 2 – Bill of Rights)
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
Geneva Conventions
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC)
These are not fragile pieces of paper. They are moral contracts written in the ashes of world wars and the blood of those who resisted tyranny across continents.
To invoke them is not radicalism.
It is responsible global citizenship.
This is not just a legal challenge.
It is a moral uprising, carved in professionalism, wrapped in dignity, fuelled by truth.
The Tyrant Archetype: A System, Not a Man
When activists say “bring down the tyrant,” Phansi Modi, they speak not of violence, but of dismantling the machinery of oppression, wherever it exists.
Because every age has its emperors:
Some wear crowns. Some wear uniforms. Some wear suits embroidered with the rhetoric of Hindutva nationalism. And some stand at podiums, crafting the illusion that power equals innocence.
But in the poetic arc of human history, tyrants are not toppled by swords —they fall when truth refuses to bow.
Modi is accused — not convicted — and the complaint against him represents the democratic and legal path to accountability. It is an attempt to break the global habit of looking away when crimes are committed under the banner of state power as witnessed in Gaza.
As the complaint notes:
“War crimes are universally condemned offences… the prohibition of which is regarded as jus cogens — a norm from which no derogation is permitted.”
These words cut through the fog of political diplomacy like a blade of clarity.
From Kashmiri Dead Poet Society
Kashmir: A Valley That Refuses to Stay Silent
For decades, Kashmir has been described in the language of sorrow:
The bruised valley.The caged paradise.The land where the mountains echo with unsent prayers.
But beneath this poetry lies the crushing reality of militarisation, enforced disappearances, communication blockades, and systematic suppression.Kashmiris have become dead poets society not by choice, but by survival.
One Kashmiri writer once said:
“If you silence a people long enough, they learn to speak through storms.”
And a storm has indeed broken — not in Srinagar, but in Johannesburg.
Our loudest voice were heard in New Delhi from Soweto to Srinagar
Our struggle echoed for justice from Gugulahtu to Kupwara.
One day the history of Kashmir will be written,
The ink will be my blood and pen will be my bones
Salman Khan
By: Salman Khan
Anti Modi and Pro-Kashmir liberation and Anti-Modi protest in Diepkloof Square, Soweto on the way to G20 summit at Nasrec led by SAKAG chairman Salman Khan.
23rd Nov 2025.
Pro-Kashmir liberation and Anti-Modi protest in Diepkloof Square, Soweto on the way to G20 summit at Nasrec led by SAKAG Chairman Salman Khan. 23rd Nov 2025.
South Africa: A Soil Where Justice Takes Root
No other country in the world carries the moral weight that South Africa does in matters of human rights. This is the land of human rights champions Nelson Mandel, Ahmed Kathrada and Oliver Tambo where:
Apartheid was defeated not just by force, but by conscience.
The arc of justice bent because people pushed with both hands.
The world learned that it is possible to negotiate peace without surrendering truth.
The MLA and SAKAG remind the nation:
“Without effective prosecution of those guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes, there is a risk of South Africa becoming a safe haven for war criminals.”
This is not merely a legal warning. It is an ethical alarm bell — loud, insistent, and necessary and it is an urgent necessity of time.
As the complaint argues, South Africa must comport itself as a responsible member of the international community, fulfilling the doctrine of responsibility to protect, undoubtedly, the masses stood up and rose to the occasion. At the helm of statesmanship, President Cyril Ramaphosa did not use his coercive power at his disposal to quell complaints but allowed the legal process to continue. This must have resonated with his own apartheid struggle as an activist. Comrade President Cyril Ramaphosa was on the right side of history and will be remembered by Kashmiris in post-liberation literature as a man of principles who respects human rights and defended Nelson Mandela's stance on Kashmir.
“All of us remain concerned that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir should be solved through peaceful negotiations and should be willing to lend all the strength we have to the resolution of this matter” (Mandela, 1998 at the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) Conference in Durban, South Africa, then South)
To ignore alleged atrocities is to betray the very heartbeat of the Constitution.
“If justice sleeps too long, injustice becomes law.”
— Kashmiri Human Rights Advocate
A twist to tale:
No G20 leader will face arrest after Lamola extends diplomatic immunity privileges
The announcement was not unexpected; it followed intense efforts by Indian diplomats who were urgently contacting the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation in the middle of the night, just before Prime Minister Modi's arrival in South Africa. They sought a timely intervention to ensure that their prime minister would not face arrest. This announcement came only hours after SAKAG issued a statement indicating that if the National Prosecuting Authority did not act swiftly, they intended to approach the South African High Court for an urgent interdict regarding Modi’s war crime case docket and secure an arrest warrant.
Official Dirco Statement:
International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola has granted diplomatic immunity for the G20 Leaders’ Summit this weekend.
In terms of the Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges Act, Lamola must by notice in the government gazette recognise a specific conference or meeting for the purposes of the subsection on diplomatic immunity.
Lamola announced that “It is hereby published for general information that the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, in terms of section 6(2) of the Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges Act, 2001 (Act 37 of 2001) has recognised the fourth Sherpa meeting, to be held from 16 to 19 November 2025 and the G20 Leaders' Summit, to be convened on 22 and 23 November 2025, both in Johannesburg”. Full statement https://iol.co.za/news/south-africa/2025-11-20-no-g20-leader-will-face-arrest-after-lamola-extends-diplomatic-immunity-privileges/
This was not the first time prime minister Modi was granted a Diplomatic immunity (DI) he was given DI during the BRICS summit of 2019 and 2023 and during 2019 Brics summit President Zuma sent his special envoy with private jet to with Minister Jeff Radebe to escort PM Modi to South Africa with an assurance he will not be arrested.
30 May 2023 MAIL AND GUARDIAN
Pandor grants diplomatic immunity to Brics conferences
2018 BRICS summit participants enjoyed immunity, archived government gazette shows
This highlights the reach and strength of the law, while praising South Africa's independent judiciary for upholding legal supremacy without fear or favor. It marks a victory for the people of South Africa, who have shown their solidarity with those in Kashmir. Despite India's strong diplomatic influence within South African affairs at DIRCO, this demonstrates that justice remains impartial and stands as one of the most powerful pillars in post-apartheid governance.
The Emperor’s Illusion and the People’s Reality
Power often wears the mask of permanence. But the people — those who gather in courtrooms, in streets, in solidarity marches from Diepkloof square Soweto to Rylands in Capetown, from Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal to Laudium in Pretoria know better.
History has several teachings, but one stands unwavering:
When law and conscience join hands, empires tremble, so does the Modi Jee shivers.
The case against Modi, lodged during one of the world’s most high-profile international summits, carries symbolic force:
It warns global leaders that diplomatic privilege is not moral immunity.
It tells victims of war that their pain has not been forgotten.
It calls on the world to stop treating human rights like negotiable currency.
And it whispers — as all great movements do —that the world is changing, slowly but inevitably.
A New Chapter Begins
The lodging of the docket is not the end. It is the beginning of a long legal, political, and moral journey.
Whether investigations proceed, whether arrests are made, whether the world takes notice — all remain to be seen.
But what is already true is this:
The silence surrounding Kashmir has been cracked.
The aura of untouchability surrounding powerful leaders has been challenged.
The expectation that victims must remain voiceless has been rejected.
And in that shift, history has turned its face.
Kashmir Solidarity Protest from Gugulethu to Gulmarg in Kashmir en route to Indian Consulate in Cape town people stood up in support of Kashmir liberation from Indian illegal occupation.
The Call of the Article: Bringing Down Tyranny, Raising Up Justice
To “bring down the tyrant” is to bring down tyranny itself — the systems, the justifications, the silences, the structures that allow suffering to hide in plain sight.
This article calls for:
The triumph of law over power
The rise of truth over narrative
The endurance of humanity over nationalism
Because a world where leaders walk immune from consequences is a world drifting into darkness.
Extract from Memorandum of Demand signed and received by President Special Envoy Bonekelo Govu.
MEMORANDUM OF DEMANDS TO THE G20 SUMMIT
We, the working class and poor communities of South Africa, including our brothers and sisters who were not born here but live here, such as those from Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Sudan, Kashmir, Palestine, and other countries in the Global South and in the world, and including all those people who support our struggles locally and internationally.
We are saying today: We are not happy with the global, elitist, capitalist agenda of the G20 Summit and its member heads of state.
The G20 claims to promote ‘Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability’ but this is just rhetoric used to hide what these world rulers and their corporate backers are doing to us all.
They put profit before the people. They put capitalist interests before the interests of the working class and the poor.
Genocide
These global leaders from the G20 states are doing next to nothing to stop the genocide in Ethiopia, Palestine, Kashmir, Sudan, and the DRC. They say they care, but they are doing very little to stop the killings, mutilations, and rapes of innocent people in these countries. They talk left and speak right.
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa continues to allow coal to be sold to Zionist Israel. Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India continues to deny the Kashmiri people their right to national self-determination. The imperialist governments of the advanced capitalist economies continue to work with and to support regimes that are involved in ethnic cleansing. Their greed for other countries' minerals is tearing the world apart.
We say: Stop the genocide in Palestine! Stop the genocide of the Amhari in Ethiopia! Stop the genocide in Kashmir! Stop the genocide in Sudan and the DRC!
Boycott Israel! No coal to Israel to support the genocide! Isolate President Trump of the USA for his support of the Zionist Israel state! Isolate President Modi of India because he is the butcher of Kashmir!
Unity in struggle:
We call on the peoples of the world to unite and fight for a better life for all. All people must fight to force their governments to do the right thing. The heads of state gathered here in this G20 must put people before profit. They must work hard to build a better world. They must end the hardship and suffering.
Memorandum submitted by the South African Kashmiri Action Group (SAKAG) United Front (UF) on behalf of the struggling masses of South Africa and other countries.
South Africa — with its history, its people, its Constitution — is the right place for this reckoning. As one my final quote, whispered like prophecy, reminds us:
“Empires fall not when the powerful grow weak, but when the powerless rise.”
And in Johannesburg, the powerless — armed only with truth, law, and courage — have risen.
Aluta Continua Vicorie de certe.
Amandla.
Comrade Salman Khan. Paul Harris Fellow.
From here to ICJ and ICC:
SAKAG and MLA waiting a certificate of Nolle Prosequi from National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to get a referral to ICJ/ICC (the referral from an Africa and European country has already been secured) to proceed to ICJ/ICC.
Open Letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa From Salman Khan. A Cry from the Valley: South Africa’s Moral Test in the Shadow of Kashmir.
A Cry from the Valley: South Africa’s Moral Test in the Shadow of Kashmir
By: Salman Khan (South African Kashmir Action Group (SAKAG) Kashmir Global Movement (KGM)]Date: 7th Nov 2025
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
Your Excellency, President Cyril Ramaphosa,
South Africa stands today at a moral crossroads — one that echoes the haunting questions of its own past. Once, our nation cried out beneath the brutal weight of apartheid, and the world answered with conscience and courage. Today, as we prepare to host the G20 Summit in November 2025, another people cry out — the people of Kashmir — and the question arises: will South Africa now answer, or will we turn away?
The Wound That Never Heals
The tragedy of Kashmir has haunted the conscience of the world since 27 October 1947, when Indian troops entered the valley under a controversial arrangement, igniting one of the most protracted and painful conflicts of the modern era. The region — covering over 80,000 square kilometres, inhabited by over 14 million souls, and lying between India, Pakistan, and China — remains the most militarized zone on earth.
For more than seven decades, the people of Jammu and Kashmir have been denied the right to self-determination — a right explicitly guaranteed by 58 United Nations Security Council resolutions. Instead, they have endured wars, mass detentions, communication blackouts, enforced disappearances, and the suffocation of their civil and political freedoms.
The world witnessed a renewed siege in August 2019, when India unilaterally abrogated Article 370 of its Constitution, stripping Kashmir of its limited autonomy and placing it under direct military rule. The move was not merely political — it was ideological. It signalled the full transformation of the Hindutva project from fringe extremism to state policy.
From Ideology to Institutionalized Oppression.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — ideological parent of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — envisions a Hindu-only India, an idea that stands in direct contradiction to democratic pluralism. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this ideology has translated into a systematic campaign of hate, exclusion, and persecution — from the 2002 Gujarat pogrom, where thousands of Muslims were slaughtered under his watch, to the current occupation and demographic engineering in Jammu and Kashmir.
What began as prejudice has hardened into policy. What was once ideology has become institutionalized violence.
The Constitutional Conscience of South Africa
Mr. President, the Bill of Rights (Chapter 2) of our Constitution — the moral soul of our democracy — declares that “everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected.” It promises equality before the law, freedom, and justice for all.
These principles were not gifted; they were earned — through struggle, blood, and international solidarity. The same solidarity that liberated South Africa from apartheid now calls upon us to extend that moral courage to others.
By extending an official invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the G20 Summit, our government risks betraying those principles. It risks signalling that South Africa — once the global symbol of justice — now chooses diplomacy over conscience, and convenience over courage.
The Weight of International Responsibility
As a signatory to the UN Charter, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and numerous international human rights treaties, South Africa carries a binding obligation to uphold and promote the dignity of peoples under occupation.
The UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir remain active and unfulfilled. They affirm the right of the Kashmiri people to determine their own future through a democratic plebiscite. India’s continued occupation, its revocation of autonomy, and its ongoing human rights abuses directly contravene international law and the spirit of decolonization that the United Nations was founded upon.
Mr. President, silence in such matters is complicity. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu warned, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”
Reclaiming the Spirit of Mandela
When the world turned its back on apartheid South Africa, it was the moral outrage of ordinary people — from Delhi to Dar es Salaam — that kept hope alive. Today, the people of Kashmir stand in that same shadow of oppression, waiting for nations like ours to stand with them.
To host Prime Minister Modi in South Africa would be to desecrate the memory of Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, and Albert Luthuli — men who taught the world that freedom is indivisible. Mandela himself reminded us:
“Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”
That truth extends beyond Palestine — it echoes through the valleys of Kashmir.
History Is Watching
Mr. President, the world watches as South Africa prepares to welcome global leaders. History, too, watches — as do the ghosts of those who perished in the fight for our own freedom.
May we not be remembered as the generation that betrayed their legacy. May we, instead, rise as the nation that once again chose the side of humanity.
Revoke the invitation. Redeem our conscience. Restore our moral voice.
I thank you in advance for your kind consideration and solidarity.
Let South Africa stand — as it once did — on the right side of history. Aluta Continua
Sincerely Yours,
In Struggle
Salman Khan. Paul Harris Fellow, T.I
Chairman SAKAG & KCAU
South African Kashmir Action Group
Kashmir Centre for African Union
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