Last week MP Virendra Sharma, Chair of the Indo-British All Party Parliamentary Group, and MP Bob Blackman, Vice Chair of Indo British APPG, along with seven other Parliamentarians called on the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to highlight the ignorance among Britons about the Jammu and Kashmir political crisis.
Referring to the recent debate held in the UK Parliament, they emphasised the need for better briefings from the Indian government, especially for UK Parliamentarians, as they are constantly being misled by alleged separatist propagandists. While acknowledging that there was no actual need for British Parliamentarians to interfere in bilateral matters of India and Pakistan, the MPs told the PM that there was certainly a need to nullify and speak up against such false propaganda, especially on the floor of the Parliament.
Blackman and Sharma were the only Parliamentarians to have spoken in favour of India at the mentioned debate held on 19th January 2017.
During the discussion, Bob had also referred to his interaction earlier last year with the Minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, where he had raised this concern at a private meeting with her as well as with the National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval.
PM Modi told the Ministers that the UK and India are natural partners in the global fight against terrorism, urging visiting MPs to encourage their colleagues to raise their collective voice against terrorism, extremism and radicalisation.
Blackman also told the Indian PM about the recently concluded Jammu Kashmir Festival in London and presented with a letter requesting him to announce 26th October as the official Jammu & Kashmir day, similar to most states of India that celebrate their founding days. PM Modi assured the delegation that he will give it his due consideration.
The controversial debate in UK Parliament
On 19th January 2017, the British Parliament saw 29 MPs debate passionately about the human rights violations by India in Kashmir. Each spoke animatedly about the cruel use of pellet guns on 'innocent civilians'. The timing of this debate could not be worse. While the Kashmiri Hindus (Pandits) mourned the bloody acts of 19th January 1990 as they remembered the day when they were rendered homeless at the behest of Jihadi slogans – “Die, Convert or Leave”, David Nutall MP (Bury North – Manchester) decided to hold a debate glorifying the terrorists sponsored by Pakistan! Not even a single mention of the armed infiltration and terror attacks sponsored by Pakistan in Jammu & Kashmir and certainly no acknowledgement of the significance of this very day by anyone except Bob Blackman MP and Virendra Sharma MP who were the only ones to speak in defence of India in their 10 minutes each of limited speaking time.
While the state assembly in Jammu & Kashmir passed a historic resolution on the safe return of the Kashmiri Pandits; in the United Kingdom MPs justified bloody retribution, killing of innocent civilians and destruction of centuries of heritage. Masked as the freedom struggle of Muslims of Kashmir valley, this ideological fight is against democracy, progress, inclusion, growth, prosperity – it is the justification of painting Kashmir in the colours of Islamic State. The events of last summer leading to Burhan Wani’s death (the so called poster boy of Jehaad in Kashmir) draws parallels with Jihadi John in the West, who use social media and propaganda to promote Jehaad and killings in the name of religion.
The UK government stand on this issue is that of non-interference. The Rt Hon Alok Sharma made it clear to all parliamentarians that this is a matter purely between India and Pakistan.
In the last couple of years the number of ceasefire violations on the Line of Control (LOC) have risen steeply. There were 437 ceasefire violations by Pakistan till November 2016, killing 37 and injuring 179 in the Indian side. In a recent report to the Upper House of the Indian Parliament, it was stated that there are at least 200 terrorists active in Jammu & Kashmir.
Encouragement of such debates and the media coverage encourages the extremists with Jehadi mentality to bring their reprehensible fight closer to the British soil.
Reaction of the diaspora
The debate of 19th January angered the members of the Indian diaspora and a campaign was launched by Lakshmi Kaul called WeCare4India with the aim of educating people on their constitutional rights and building greater awareness on matters pertaining to India. A month after the debate WeCare4India organised a seminar to discuss lobbying by Indian diaspora in the UK on 20th February 2017. The session took place in the House of Commons and was co-sponsored by Bob Blackman MP and Virendra Sharma MP.
A brief introduction to the initiative, #WeCare4India was given by Lakshmi Kaul who shared with the participants the need for political awareness among the Indian diaspora. The main concern remained the lack of political engagement by the members of Indian diaspora therefore leading to poor attendance in debates such as these.
Sharma MP who was the only other MP to have spoken for India on 19th January 2017 besides Bob shared with the participants how actively the propagandists had been lobbying them for having spoken for India. He shared the tremendous pressure and continued efforts that the lobbyists make in ensuring that the pressure is maintained. He urged community organisations, individuals and various community congregation centres to take a more active role in building the 'political muscle' to educate the local MPs, Peers and various departments and establishments.
Lord Dolar Popat shared his experience of over 35 years in helping encourage Indian diaspora to build a political voice and stronger political representation in the UK. He urged the young British Indians to step forward and be more politically engaged and aware.
C B Patel, Publisher/Editor of Asian Voice and a keen supporter of this campaign, spoke about the closure of Hare Krishna temple in Watford and how the members of Indian diaspora ensured that the temple was reopened.
