British Parliamentarians express solidarity with Kashmiris

LONDON:Around thirty British Parliamentarians have expressed complete solidarity with he Kashmiris living in the Indian Occupied Kashmir and have unanimously supported their right to self-determination as enshrined in the United Nations resolutions. They have also voiced deep concerns over grave human rights violations of the Kashmiri people at the hands of the Indian security forces and demanded an immediate end to the draconian laws which are   frequently used against the Kashmiri people to suppress their struggle for self-determination.

The Parliamentarians expressed these views while speaking at a seminar jointly organized by the Pakistan High Commission London, Jammu & Kashmir Self Determination Movement Europe (JKSDME) and Third World Solidarity at the House of Commons on 5th February 2014 to observe the “Kashmir Solidarity Day”.

The speakers,among others,included Chairman APPG on Kashmir Andrew Griffiths MP, Chairman APPG on Pakistan Andrew Stephenson MP, former Chairman APPG on Kashmir Lord Nazir Ahmed, Vice Chairman APPG on Kashmir Lord Qurban Hussain,Baroness Zahida Manzoor, Sir Gerald Kaufman MP, Richard Harrington MP, Kate Green MP, Julie Hilling MP, Yasmin Qureshi MP, David Nuttall MP, Nic Dakin MP,George Galloway MP, Gerry Sutcliffe MP, Gavin Shuker MP, John Leach MP, John Hemming MP, Kris Hopkins MP, Steve Baker MP, Robert Goodwill MP, Anas Sarwar MP,Jason McCartney MP, Lilian Greenwood MP, Hillary Benn MP, Paul Blomfield MP and Michael Meacher MP.

The disclosure of mass grave in Indian Occupied Kashmir was termed as serious human rights violation and the speakers urged the Indian Government to bring the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice. It was noted with concern that rapes were being used as a weapon against Kashmiri women. The speakers also urged the Kashmiri diaspora around the world to put in more efforts to highlight the issue on international level for a just resolution of the dispute. The highlight of the discourse was that peace could only be restored in Kashmir when

justice is done to the Kashmiri people.

Pakistan High Commissioner for UK Mr Wajid Shamsul Hasan thanked the attendees who turned out in a large number to make their voice heard for the cause of Kashmir. He said that successive governments of Pakistan had been supporting the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people politically, diplomatically and morally. This support would continue till the just resolution of the issue, he assured.

Raja Najabat Hussain, Chairman of Jammu & Kashmir Self-determination Movement Europe (JKSDME), who presided over this event, also thanked the parliamentarians and the audience for their presence in large numbers to demonstrate their solidarity with the people of Kashmir as well as their support to the just cause of the Kashmiri people. JKSDME has launched a petition for signatures by the parliamentarians to initiate a debate in the House of Commons on Kashmir issue in the coming days. All the parliamentarians who attended the event signed this

petition.

It may be noted that according to Partition Plan of India in 1947, the accession of the State of Jammu & Kashmir, either with India or Pakistan, was to be decided in the light of its people’s wishes and the geographic contiguity.

However, India occupied the state through military force and claimed it to be its own territory. The UN resolutions clearly spell out that the issue would be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite but India has been avoiding the implementation on these resolutions for over six decades now.

“Kashmir Solidarity Day” is observed on 5th February every year by the Government and people of Pakistan within Pakistan and across the world to express support for the just cause of the Kashmiris and to highlight the importance of the issue in the context of global peace.