British MPs ask UN, UK to act on Kashmir

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of British parliamentarians that visited Pakistan this week have asked the United Nations and the British government to take notice of the grave atrocities being inflicted on the people of the Indian Occupied Kashmir by a fascist and racist regime of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The delegation, headed by Khalid Mahmood MP (Labour-Perry Barr, Birmingham), included Stephen Timms, Labour MP and member Select Committee on Exiting Europe and Imran Hussain MP and Shadow Justice Minister.

Invited by Jawad Sohrab Malik, a British-Pakistani businessman, to show solidarity with the people of Indian Occupied Kashmir, the delegation called on President Arif Alvi and Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi to discuss the latest situation in the Occupied Kashmir and how the international influencers could play their part in making India realise the blatant mistake made by abrogating the special constitutional status promised by India to the people of Kashmir. The delegates held meetings with senior government officials as well.

Mahmood, who is also Shadow Minister for Europe, urged the British government and United Nations to lend their vociferous support on the issue. “We want the safeguarding of human rights of people of Occupied Kashmir where a complete communication blackout has been put in place. We ask the British government to raise its voice over the issue and play its role in this regard. Apart from British government, we ask [the] United Nations, if they want to be fit for purpose then they will have to raise their voice in support of Kashmir issue.”

Jawad Malik pointed out that British parliamentary delegation visited the Line of Control (LoC) and also registered their protest besides playing a pivotal role in highlighting the Kashmir issue and people of Kashmir and Pakistan were grateful to them. “Even Prime Minister Imran Khan has given the same directives as he has become an ambassador of the Kashmir issue and has been highlighting the issue at every fora. It is our moral duty to play our part in this regard as well,” he added.

During meetings, Stephen Timms also expressed concern over the deteriorating situation in the Indian-held Kashmir saying India was violating human rights in the territory and it was important that international observers were accorded access to the area in order to gauge the level of human rights abuses. He hoped the world would take notice of the worsening situation before it deteriorates into anything serious between the two nuclear-armed neigbours.

It merits mentioning that the current visit by the British parliamentary delegation was not the first one organised by Jawad Malik. Three leading British parliamentarians including the former cabinet minister and Conservative Party chairperson Saeeda Warsi, and Labour MPs Naz Shah and Faisal Rashid, had visited Pakistan in March as well on Malik’s invite to discuss ways and means to enhance bilateral trade and boost economic ties between Britain and Pakistan.