Labour Party does U-turn on Kashmir ahead of polls

LONDON: Britain’s Opposition Labour Party has stepped in to counter its perceived anti-India stance to urge that the Kashmir issue not be allowed to divide communities in the UK in the lead up to the December 12 General Election, in the wake of protests from sections of the Indian diaspora.

Jeremy Corbyn during an election event on Tuesday. REuTERS

London, November 12

Britain’s Opposition Labour Party has stepped in to counter its perceived anti-India stance to urge that the Kashmir issue not be allowed to divide communities in the UK in the lead up to the December 12 General Election, in the wake of protests from sections of the Indian diaspora. The Chair of the Labour Party, Ian Lavery, issued a letter to stress that Kashmir is a “bilateral matter” for India and Pakistan and that the party is opposed to external interference over the issue, as had been implied by some of the wording of a controversial emergency motion passed by the party at its conference in September.

“Kashmir is a bilateral matter for India and Pakistan to resolve together by means of peaceful solution which protects the human rights of the Kashmiri people and respects their right to have a say in their own future,” reads the letter issued by Lavery dated November 11.

“Labour is opposed to external interference in the political affairs of any other country. As an international party, our concern is to ensure respect for the human rights of all people in the world, regardless of where they live,” it notes.

“We recognise that the language used in the emergency motion has caused offence in some sections of the Indian diaspora, and in India itself. We are adamant that the deeply felt and genuinely held differences on the issue of Kashmir must not be allowed to divide communities against each other here in the UK,” his letter says.

The Indian diaspora, estimated to represent over 1 million votes in UK, were seen as being alienated by Labour since the motion was passed. “Kashmir is a matter for the people of Kashmir and all conflicts must be resolved within the law and Constitution of India,” said Virendra Sharma, who is contesting again from Ealing Southall constituency from west London – a seat he has held for the party since 2007.

Fellow Labour colleague, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, said, “The Labour Party is not anti-India, anti-Pakistan, or anti anyone else. We merely stand up for and have always stood up for the human rights of all,” said Dhesi, the first turbaned Sikh MP voted into the UK Parliament in 2017. — PTI