The MPs in the House of Commons debated human rights violations in Kashmir and called the European Union and UN human rights officials to be given access to both sides of the Line of Control, for Boris Johnson to raise the issue with Prime minister Narendra Modi.
The members observed that the pandemic has not slowed the reports of human rights abuses. In some cases, it has exacerbated people’s pain. Muslims have reported being turned
away from hospitals. That is shocking at the best of times, but especially so during a global pandemic. There are spates of unexplained and uninvestigated killings. The recent killing of two young men and a 16-year-old boy, Athar Mushtaq, must be investigated.
James Daly said that there is not a word from the international community in respect of that. Torture is commonplace, and young people are disappearing, yet we do not see that on television screens in the western world—we do not see it on the BBC. Quite rightly, we recently saw coverage of the issues in Hong Kong and other places. Kashmiris are people who we represent—they are our friends, and this issue affects their daily lives. The UK Parliament must take a stand.
Barry Gardiner of the Labour party said critisizing Pakistan said that Strangely enough for an entity that purports to be a country, the constitution bars anyone from public office and prohibits them from participating in politics unless they publicly support the principle of Jammu Kashmir acceding to Pakistan.
Castigating the Indian Government for Human Rights abuses in Kashmir, John Spellar of the Labour party said, the Indian Government to account for their abusive behaviour, especially in Kashmir. We also reject any argument in relation to Kashmir, the Punjab or the Uyghurs in China that these are internal matters and of no concern to those outside. Human rights are actually a universal matter and universal concern. That was unambiguously established 75 years ago this week, just across the road from here, when the United Nations had its first meeting of its Assembly and its Security Council.
Sara Britcliffe of the Labour Party said that as many know, over the past year the number of political and human rights detainees has increased into the thousands. What is more worrying is that those political and community leaders are not being offered a fair trial. Under the Jammu Kashmir Public Safety Act, the court rules specify a 14-day limit for lodging an application for a hearing, but that process has not been followed, meaning that people are still in prison, with no prospect of a fair trial.
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“That failure of the courts has become particularly urgent since a shocking wave of arrests in October last year. We must ensure that we do all we can to protect the fundamental human rights of the Kashmir people,” Sara said.
Robbie Moore of the Conservative Party critisized the Indian Government for a “heavy” lockdown in Jammu Kashmir. He said, “Kashmir has been living under heavy lockdown restrictions since August 2019, following the special status of Jammu Kashmir being revoked by India. We should be clear about what these lockdowns actually mean.”
He also spoke of Press Freedom and how Foreign journalists were being denied entry into Kashmir by the Indian Government. He said that thousands of people have been arrested and face harassment and imprisonment without due cause: lawyers, small business owners, journalists, students and of course human rights activists. Phone lines have been blocked and internet access taken away. Although some communication has been restored, it is patchy and heavily controlled by the Government
Robbie also denouned the new Land laws saying, “Legal reforms have been made so that residents’ property rights can be revoked. Properties have been destroyed and innocent people are losing their lives. It is reported that nearly 300 Kashmiris have been killed and over 1,600 injured, and more than 900 houses have been destroyed since special status
was revoked.”
Paul Bristow demanded an independent investigation into the human rights abuses in Kashmir saying that, “It certainly cannot be in the interest of the Indian Government for allegations of human rights abuses to be made repeatedly. Why do they not allow them to be independently investigated? My hon. Friend the Member for Wycombe (Mr Baker) was planning to raise that point today, but, regrettably, he is self-isolating. Muslims in the UK must feel that atrocities and crimes affecting fellow Muslims across the world are a priority for this Government.”