Lord Nazir rubbishes India’s claims to be a true
democracy, dubbing it a ‘Banana Republic’
LONDON: Kashmiris and Sikhs came together for a joint protest against India to mark India’s Republic Day as ‘Black Day’ here outside Indian High Commission.
The protestors came from all over the UK despite chilly weather and chanted slogans for two hours demanding freedom for the occupied Kashmir and Punjab. The protestors said that India was involved in committing genocide of Kashmiris and Sikhs under the Hindutva plan of silencing everyone who doesn’t believe in the supremacy of fascist Hindutva ideology.
Pledging to maintain their struggle for freedom, the demonstrators called for the perpetrators of mass human rights abuses by Indian forces to be punished in an international tribunal as the Indian judicial system has become a mute spectator when it comes to atrocities against minorities. They said that India was a sham democracy which was in reality a totalitarian regime, ruthlessly suppressing its religious and ethnic minorities and killing and maiming those who demand right of self-determination. The demonstrators said that its important to resist Indian design and expose India through ‘Black day’ protests to highlight how India has brutalised their lives while posing as a decent and democratic country to the world.
The protestors said that India was a ‘racist sham democracy’ involved in mass scale human rights abuses.
Lord Nazir Ahmed, chair of Parliamentarians for National Self-Determination, rubbished India’s claims to be a true democracy. He described India as a ‘Banana Republic’ whose polity works only for the Hindu majority. He said that Narendra Modi is implementing Hindutav agenda on India, backed by a BJP central government, who he said, is targeting Christians, Sikhs, Dalits and Muslims by violence and repression with a view to crushing their rights and very identities as religious communities.
Amrik Singh Sahota OBE, President of the Council of Khalistan, called on the international community to open its eyes and see India’s sham democracy for what it is. Its transgressions against minorities has already started extend to aggression against neighbouring states including Pakistan and China. The potential for a cataclysmic nuclear conflict – which would be focussed on the Punjab and Kashmir regions – should be an urgent priority for the international community. He called for peaceful conflict resolution, leading to freedom in both regions, underpinned by international law.
Sardar Mahmohan Singh said that Sikhs are suffering under Indian occupation. He said India has never tolerated and liked Sikhs and others because India stands for upper class Hindutva class only. He said thousands of Sikhs remain in Indian jails until today without any recourse to justice.
Raja Amjad Khan, secretary general of the All Parties Kashmir Coordination Committee, also urged international intervention in the wider interests of global peace and security. Whilst he welcomed the recent debate on Kashmir in the UK’s House of Commons, carrying a motion in favour of self-determination, he urged the UK government and the new Trump administration to take effective steps to halt the Hindutva juggernaut in its tracks so that tens of millions of people in the conflict zones could finally enjoy independence that was meant to be the rationale after the 1947 decolonisation process.