Labour party has come again under major scrutiny after they have recently passed a unanimous motion on Kashmir at their party conference in Brighton on September 25th. An open letter has been written by the diaspora, condemning this motion and Labour party’s attitude towards India (published in full below). They are urging the aggrieved and outraged Indian community organisations to come forward and sign this letter, to create pressure, ensuring Mr Corbyn takes a stand on this ‘undiplomatic’ approach of his political colleagues using vote bank to evoke tension.
The controversial motion submitted by British Pakistani Uzma Rasool, who is one of the Labour party candidates for West Midlands Metro Mayor, reportedly stated that Kashmir should be given the right to self-determination as per UN resolutions and Labour party to ‘stand with Kashmiris fighting against occupation.’
In her speech, Rasool reportedly claimed that Kashmir has seen “72 years of human rights violation”, gang rapes and mass rapes by the Indian Army, and pellet gun injuries.
“We must urgently request India opens access so humanitarian agencies can go and help. This is a major crisis. We cannot allow a century of oppression to take place,” she said.
The motion which was reportedly backed by Blackburn, Dudley North, Keighley, Stockport and Wakefield constituency of Labour party further said it condemned "the recent actions of the Government of India to revoke Article 370 and 35A of the Indian constitution and the special status" granted to Kashmir.
"Crucially, it calls on the Labour Party, the government in waiting, to clearly and vocally support the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination and for international observers to be sent to the region immediately. The resolution also calls for an intervention of the party at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).”
Prompt response
Raveesh Kumar, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson said, "(Indian) Government has noted certain developments at the Labour Party Conference on September 25 pertaining to the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir. We regret the uninformed and unfounded positions taken at this event." He also turned down any engagement with the vote-bank driven politics of the Labour Party.
As a result, High Commission of India in London, that has been hosting the customary dinner reception for the Labour party at the conference for years, withdrew its invites.
Outraged by the “politics of a divided and an anti-semitic Party”, Manoj Ladwa, former Chair of Labour Party’s Indian Community Engagement Forum, has reportedly said that Labour has been “hijacked” by a coalition of “hard-left extremists” and “Jihadi sympathisers”.
"The Labour Party has historically enjoyed good relations with India and its diaspora community in the UK. However, under Jeremy Corbyn this relationship has become fractured due to what can only be described as now an institutional bias against India and Indians.
"This resolution on Kashmir is ill-conceived, misinformed, and will only further alienate the vast majority of Indians from Labour," he said.
In a column for India Inc for which Mr Ladwa is the CEO, he wrote, “The resolution about the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir is ill conceived, misinformed, and will only further alienate the vast majority of Indians from Labour. The revocation of Article 370 was constitutional, democratic and just, giving women, minorities, LGBTQ communities at last the rights which the so-called ‘special status’ denied. It’s ironic that Labour, the historic flag-bearer of liberal social values, through adopting this resolution, seeks the continued oppression of these communities.
“Under Jeremy it is obvious that the relationship has become fractured. Having been a member of the Labour Party for over 20 years, before I resigned soon after Corbyn took over, and having run many of its community engagement programmes, I have had first-hand experience of its changing face. I therefore have no hesitation in saying that Labour now has an institutional bias against India and Indians.
“I left the Labour Party precisely because it no longer is a party of the many. Much of its policy-making has been hijacked by a coalition of hard Left extremists and Jihadi sympathisers. Corbyn’s long-held support for separatist and often violent causes around the world is well known. Under his leadership, Labour pretends to speak in liberal terms but panders to the most illiberal ideologies. This is a slippery road to more divisions in British society, precisely at a time when Brexit-torn Britain needs politicians to build bridges with all communities and friendly nations like India.
India is today the third-largest investor into the UK and Indian companies are at the forefront as the largest employers in the country’s manufacturing sector.
“Hence, with the prospect of a Corbyn-led government, one would not blame Indian companies if they start to re-evaluate their UK investment plans, just as British Indian voters have started to turn their backs on their traditional party of choice. This would be a real shame, given the immense work over many years by both countries, and successive governments of all shades, to build an otherwise robust trade, investment, and strategic relationship.
“This Labour Party is, however, unable to reconcile the re-emergence of its militant tendency in a much more potent avatar, with a new, confident, outward-looking, and economically progressive India. Labour’s politics is terribly and recklessly out of sync with Britain’s business and wider strategic interests in aligning squarely with democratic India...
“Under Corbyn, the days of New Labour, and its centrist politics, are truly over. But the days of New India are firmly here. It’s high time Labour smells the chai. But I fear it may be already too late. The US Democrats would do well to take note.”
Labour Friends of India, that is co-chaired by the much loved London’s Deputy Mayor of Business Rajesh Agrawal in a statement said, “Labour Friends of India is proud of its decades long friendship with India and the Indian community in the UK.
We continue to believe that the future governance of Kashmir is an issue to be resolved peacefully and respectfully, recognising the sovereign rights of the states of both India and Pakistan in that process.
It is understandable that some Labour Members of the Parliament wish to make specific representations on behalf of their constituents but we do not believe that it is the place of the British Labour party to prescribe a solution...”
It further added, “We will now bring colleagues together from within the Parliamentary Labour Party to discuss a way forward within the Parliamentary Labour Party to discuss a way forward and we look forward to continuing our friendship and cooperation with India as our vital friend and ally.”
Virendra Sharma, a Labour Party MP for Ealing and Southall since 2007, criticised his party's stance on internationalising the Kashmir issue. He said, "I am very disappointed that this motion was passed at Labour Party conference. I was not at the conference, was instead working in my constituency with schools, community groups and the police. Kashmir is a matter for India to address internally as decided by their laws. Britain cannot preach the rights of self-determination but deny them to India itself."
MP Barry Gardiner, the former Chair of the Labour Friends of India as well as Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade reportedly called the resolution, "ill-informed and partisan."
Vinod Tikoo from Kashmiri Pandits Cultural Society (UK) told India Today group that it is "shocking to see that the Labour Party has been sold to ultra-left and Jihadi".
Unaccountable politicians
Ironically, Labour party used to be the natural preference of Indians, many of who moved to the UK in late 1960s and early 70s after being expelled from East Africa and other British possessions. It was common for many Indians growing up in the council estates, working in factories, in corner shops to automatically vote for the Labour party, because of its openness and pro-immigration stance. Over the years as the vote bank politics shifted, as the Indian community grew richer, and moved ahead with time, Labour party was left behind from forging better ties with the community. In fact its major failure in 2010 to come to power was resulted by a bitterness among the Indian diaspora towards Labour’s growing unnecessary pro Pakistan sentiments.
Though the Labour Friends of India flaunts a photo of Mr Corbyn shaking his hands with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, absolutely no one from the Indian diaspora can forget when he as an MP signed an Early Day Motion to block Prime Minister Narendra Modi from coming to the UK for a state visit in 2015. The Labour Friends of India, that was created to forge better relation between the party and India, stood as a spectator, without standing up to its own party’s misgivings. There is perhaps no harm in having a political preference towards a minority or may be a particular religion, but it is indeed shameful for a party leader trying to be the Prime Minister of our country to fan fire against any minority community. He should not or cannot forget that it is in his duty to stand up for all citizens, even as an Opposition leader- irrespective of their home or origin.
Officially Labour party believes the Kashmir issue is India’s internal matter, but the irony remains that when anti-India motion took the centre stage in Birmingham, Indian-origin politicians never stood up for India. In fact none of them have have ever stood up when their colleagues within Labour party fanned pro-Khalistan and anti-India separatist movements on Britain’s soil. Many have gone ahead and signed letters issued by one of the All Parliamentary Party Groups supporting such separatism.
The 15th August violence outside the High Commission of India was hardly condemned by Mr Corbyn whereas London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan, in an exclusive article to Asian Voice (published fully on page 3) said, “I absolutely agree that what happened was completely unacceptable”- an apology Mr Corbyn still fails to make for its party becoming a ‘hate-India’ campaign.
(Please also see readers’ letters on page 10 on the above topic)
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Dear Mr Corbyn,
Labour Party & The British Indian Community
We are writing collectively, as British Indian community organisations, to express our deep dismay that Her Majesty’s Opposition has abandoned a long-standing cross-party position on Kashmir as a strictly bilateral matter between India and Pakistan, and in doing so, sown the seeds of community disharmony in the United Kingdom.
The emergency motion passed at the recent Labour Party Conference is not acceptable to us as it seeks to interfere in the internal matters of, and between, third countries and is drafted in a one-sided and divisive manner. To quote one of your own shadow cabinet members, the motion is “ill-informed and partisan.”We are also hugely concerned about the wider attempts to bring the Kashmir issue into the domestic politics of the United Kingdom, which has serious ramifications for community harmony. We have already witnessed the horrendous scenes and arrests outside the Indian High Commission on 15thAugust. At a time when Brexit has already created deep divisions within our country, the last thing we need is to further divide different communities within the United Kingdom whilst destroying our diplomatic relations with the world’s largest democracy and long standing, valued strategic partner.We are particularly dismayed by the virulent reaction by the Labour Party to the removal of an outdated, temporary provision that was hindering development of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, development for people of all religions, of all genders, of all ethnicities. Progress, human rights, and values which we would have expected the Labour Party to stand for.
For the avoidance of doubt, our organisations do not take party political positions and include members of all parties and none. However, in this instance, we feel compelled to highlight this serious issue. We are consulting with members and community colleagues to reconsider the level and nature of engagement with Labour Party representatives going forward in the light of the strident position your Party and you have taken.
We await your urgent response.
To add the name of your organisation in support of this letter please email with your name, title and name of the organisation you represent to [email protected] by 13 October 2019. This letter will then be sent to Mr Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party with all collated signatories.
