British MPs voice solidarity for Kashmiris

ISLAMABAD: British Parliamentarians and other speakers at a parliamentary webinar hosted by the High Commission for Pakistan, London have strongly condemned the gross human rights violations of the Kashmiri people being committed by Indian occupation forces.

The webinar, held to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day on Friday, was participated in by a large number of cross-party British MPs from both Houses of the Parliament, eminent scholars, academics, members of the civil society and British friends of Kashmir.

Speaking in the webinar conducted by High Commissioner Moazzam Ahmad Khan, the MPs and others expressed complete solidarity with the Kashmiri people, a press release issued by Pakistan High Commission said. They demanded that India should immediately repeal draconian laws, end the military siege, stop demographic changes in the occupied region, lift communication blockade and release all political prisoners in IIOJK.

They also said it was about time that the international community called out the BJP government’s discriminatory laws against Muslims. Terming it an international issue, the speakers unanimously refuted Indian narrative of Kashmir being an internal matter and pledged to continue to raise their voice for the basic rights of the Kashmiris.

They also urged India to allow access to humanitarian organisations on its side of Jammu and Kashmir, as was done by Pakistan.

The speakers included MPs Debbie Abrahams, Chair All Parties Parliamentary Group on Kashmir, Andrew Gwynne, Chair Labour Friends of Kashmir, Paul Bristow, Co-Chair Conservative Friends of Kashmir, Afzal Khan, Alison Thewliss, Imran Hussain, James Daly, Khalid Mehmood, Liam Byrne, Naz Shah, Robbie Moore, Steve Baker, Yasmin Qureshi, Muhammad Yasin, Lord Qurban Hussain, Lord Wajid Khan, Shaffaq Mohammad ex-MEP, John Howarth ex-MEP, Amjad Bashir ex-MEP, Cllr Yasmin Dar, Raja Najabat Hussain, Dr Nazir Gilani, Counsellor Liaquat Ali MBE, Mushtaq Lashari CBE, and Cllr Muhammad Sadiq. Besides those, Tony Lloyd MP and Rebecca Long Bailey MP sent their messages of solidarity.

Earlier, giving an overview of the situation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), Azad Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan said the disputed territory had become a hotspot of Islamophobia, and Kashmiris were facing annihilation and genocide.

Rape and targeted molestation of women by occupation forces was being used as a tool to intimidate the population. The BJP government was bringing millions of Hindus to the occupied territory to change its demography in contravention of the international law and Geneva Convention. He urged the British government to activate the UN to resolve the conflict, which was eroding peace and security of the region.

In his opening remarks, the High Commissioner apprised the audience of the unabated atrocities being committed by the Indian security forces in IIOJK and vowed Pakistan on its part will continue to raise its voice for the Kashmiris at every platform and every occasion.