London, August 25, 2019 (PPI-OT): The Pakistani High Commissioner, Mohammad Nafees Zakaria, called on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Minister Dr. Andrew Murrison, MP, to discuss situation in occupied Kashmir. The High Commissioner briefed the Minister on the gross human rights violations in occupied Kashmir, the threat to the regional security due to unilateral actions by India and simultaneously heating up of situation at the Line of Control (LoC) and Working Boundary.
Nafees Zakaria highlighted the violations of UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir committed by India. He drew attention of the FCO Minister on the steps taken by India to systematically alter the demography of the IOK to convert it from a Muslim Majority to Muslim minority territory.
In the context of human rights violations and atrocities perpetrated by the Indian occupation forces, the High Commissioner referred to the various reports issued by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir.
Zakaria apprised the Minister on the steps taken by the Government of Pakistan to create awareness among the international community and to urge them to intervene to stop the bloodshed of innocent and defenceless Kashmiris. The FCO Minister confirmed that his country was aware of the situation, which he said was a matter of concern. He recognised the perils that surround the issue of Kashmir in the current circumstances.
Meanwhile, the Southall Multicultural Community organised a peaceful walk to express solidarity with Kashmiris who are victim of injustice and human rights violations against Women, Children and elderly due to the curfew and other restriction in the Jammu and Kashmir. The peaceful walk was against the revoking of Article 370 and 35A of Indian Constitution which is clear evidence of human rights violation and against the wishes of people of Kashmir.
The Southall Multicultural Communitywe members started walk on the Broadway towards the Abu Bakr Mosque and raised anti-India and pro-freedom slogans. The Campaign for Labour Party (CLP) condemned the recent actions of the Indian government to revoke Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and thereby ending the special status of occupied Kashmir.
This action by the Modi government will not only raise tensions between two nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, but will also deny the protection afforded under this article to the citizens of Kashmir, it added.
This CLP expressed concern over the addition of 180,000 extra troops to the territory, which already has over 700,000 troops, and the reports of human rights abuses and killings of Kashmiri civilians by the Indian troops.
It also deplored the removal of access to communications with the rest of world and the right to travel to and from the territory and the house arrest of all the political leaders and activists from occupied Kashmir. The CLP urged the Labour Party to support the retention of Article 370 of the Indian constitution until the United Nations resolutions adopted in 1947/8 are implemented.
It urged the Labour Party to confirm that Kashmir is a disputed territory and pledge to support the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination, including the use of instruments of international law. The CLP urged the Labour Party to ask the Indian Government to restore all communications to the region immediately and lift all travel bans and demand an end to direct rule and the withdrawal of all troops from the territory.
It also urged the Labour Party to ask the Indian Government end all human Rights abuses, killings of civilians and give immediate access to international observers and human rights organisations to the occupied territory.
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