UK cautions against anti-India rhetoric on Kashmir, pro-Khalistan extremism

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 10

A review of the UK Government’s counter-terrorism strategy has warned that rhetoric from Pakistan is impacting UK Muslim communities by “inflaming anti-India sentiment, particularly around the subject of Kashmir”.

Tiny group spreading false narrative

A false narrative is disseminated by the tiny number of pro-Khalistan groups operating in the UK that the government is colluding with its counterpart in India to persecute Sikhs. Such groups' narratives glorify violence carried out by the pro-Khalistan movement in India. William Shawcross, Commissioner for Public Appointments

The review of the UK Government’s early intervention ‘Prevent’ strategy published this week also asked it to be mindful of “pro-Khalistan extremism emerging from the UK’s Sikh communities”.

“A false narrative is disseminated by the tiny number of pro-Khalistan groups operating in the UK that the government is colluding with its counterpart in India to persecute Sikhs. Such groups’ narratives glorify violence carried out by the pro-Khalistan movement in India. While the current threat is low, praise for violence overseas and a simultaneous belief in a state-led campaign of repression domestically is a potentially toxic combination for the future,” said the review carried out by Commissioner for Public Appointments William Shawcross.

“There is an element of crossover between those who seek to impose limits around blasphemy with those who voice incendiary rhetoric on Kashmir. I have seen evidence of UK extremist groups, as well as a Pakistani cleric with a UK following, calling for the use of violence in Kashmir. I have also seen evidence demonstrating that flashpoints related to Kashmir lead to a significant surge in interest from UK Islamists,” said Shawcross.

UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman said at the House of Commons on Wednesday that the recommendations would be swiftly implemented. “The truth is that there is nothing anti-Muslim about tackling Islamism, and we must continue to work closely with Muslim communities if we are to do so effectively,” she said.

However, she felt the review had defined the extreme right-wing too broadly by including the respectable right and centre-right. “The threat from the extreme right-wing must not be minimised. It is serious and it is growing; it must be robustly addressed. But it is not the same, either in nature or in scale, as the threat from Islamism,” she added.