Khalid Mahmood MP: India is committing human rights abuses in Kashmir - Boris Johnson

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Written by: Khalid Mahmood MPHouse of Commons Posted On: 19th August 2019
Two weeks on from the revocation of Kashmir's special status shadow Foreign Office Minister Khalid Mahmood MP argues that the UK Government has a duty to intervene in Kashmir.

Khalid Mahmood MP: India is committing human rights abuses in Kashmir - Boris Johnson has a duty to act
Written by: Khalid Mahmood MPHouse of Commons Posted On: 19th August 2019
Two weeks on from the revocation of Kashmir's special status shadow Foreign Office Minister Khalid Mahmood MP argues that the UK Government has a duty to intervene in Kashmir.

KashmirBJP members celebrate shortly after the Indian Government announces plans for Jammu and Kashmir's Union Territory status - stripping Kashmir of the special autonomy it has had for 70 years.Credit: Shaukat Ahmed via PA Images
Human rights abuses are not an internal or bilateral matter. They are the concern of the whole world.

The Indian Government continues to act with impunity, whilst the Kashmiri people continue suffer evermore abuses of their human rights.

The situation in Kashmir has been escalated exponentially into the complete suppression of the freedoms and civil liberties of its people. Despite this, Kashmir is receiving relatively little news coverage and political attention. This effectively indicates that the UK, EU and other Western countries champion democracy and human rights with partiality.

The focus on the current situation in Hong Kong - where there is wall to wall media coverage and scrutiny about a potential change to one law - lays bare the complacency that the international community is exhibiting towards Kashmir.

UN resolutions promised the Kashmiris a plebiscite to determine their own future – a promise that has been disregarded for over 70 years. India continues to inflict human rights abuses on the Kashmiri people and has now arbitrarily revoked Kashmir’s Special Status.

By revoking Articles 370 and 35a (without any attempt at consultation) the Indian Government have stripped the people of Kashmir of their democratic rights, their legislature and their territorial exclusivity protection. The proposals to sell land, held for generations by Kashmiri Muslim farmers, in order to settle Hindu nationalists loyal to the current Government, is nothing short of ethnic cleansing and will inevitably lead to conflict.

This revocation effectively renders the majority Muslim population subject to the vagaries and whims of Indian Governments.

The leaders of the mainstream Kashmiri political parties face arbitrary detention and ordinary Kashmiri’s live under stringent restrictions to their freedom of movement and communication. These actions risk regional peace in what is the most militarised area in the world. Kashmir has been described as effectively being one big prison camp.

The Indian Government’s actions are in contravention of UN Security Council Resolution no. 47 and will further exacerbate the human rights breaches that the people of Kashmir have suffered for over 70 years.

Whilst the Indian Government may claim that this is an internal or bilateral (with Pakistan) matter, the history of the region, the flagrant disregard for the human rights of the Kashmiri people and the implications of the current situation mean that international intervention is urgently required.

The UK, having been the architect of the geo-political arrangements at the time of Partition, has a particular responsibility to the Kashmiri people to act. Moreover, more than 1 million British citizens of Kashmiri descent anxiously await our Prime Minister’s response.

The choice is simple: whether he offers his support to the voiceless, subjugated people of Kashmir or instead stays silent about the illegal, inhumane and undemocratic actions of the current Indian Government. Without co-ordinated and decisive intervention, I fear that the situation will have far reaching implications for the region and beyond.

Khalid Mahmood MP is Shadow Minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Member of Parliament for Birmingham Perry Barr.




Born 13 July 1961 (age 58)
Azad Kashmir, Pakistan
Nationality British


Khalid Mahmood (British politician)

Khalid Mahmood (born 13 July 1961) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Perry Barr since 2001.

Political career
Mahmood is a graduate of UCE Birmingham and a former engineer with a trade union background. He was a Birmingham City Councillor from 1990 to 1992. In 2001, Mahmood was selected for the Perry Barr seat by local Labour party members.

Although Mahmood held the seat for Labour in the 2001 election, his share of the vote fell by 16.5%, much of which went to the Liberal Democrat candidate Jon Hunt, who ran on an anti-sleaze ticket. Mahmood subsequently increased his share of the vote slightly at the 2005 election, though his majority fell by 805 votes. He was again elected in 2010.

He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Home Office Minister Tony McNulty from 10 November 2005 until 6 September 2006, when he resigned after signing a letter calling for Prime Minister Tony Blair to step down.[3] Pakistani-born Mahmood stated that he was "flabbergasted and shocked" after it was discovered that Osama bin Laden was living in a city with thousands of Pakistani troops, reviving questions about alleged links between al-Qaeda and elements in Pakistan's security forces.

Mahmood opposed the decision by Birmingham College in 2013 to ban students wearing veils. "I am seriously concerned that the college has taken this approach," Mahmood told The Huffington Post. "I see no reason why young women should not be able to practise their faith and wear what is appropriate for their religion, [...] It is about freedom to protect your rights. The college should demonstrate and encourage respect of belief, colour and background. [The decision] is not an example to set to students."

In House of Commons divisions, he has voted for the introduction of national ID cards, student top-up fees, anti-terrorism laws and he voted against investigating the Iraq War.[6] He is also on the Advisory Council (as a Labour Political Council member) of the Henry Jackson Society.

In the EU referendum, Mahmood initially supported the Leave campaign but left in February 2016 after becoming unhappy at the campaign's focus on immigration. Later that year in June, he announced his support for the Remain campaign.[8]

He supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.


Expenses
In May 2009, it was reported, as part of a series of leaked UK MPs expense details, that Mahmood claimed for £1,350 to stay in a five-star west London hotel with his girlfriend.

Mahmood also claimed more than £35,000 in expenses for food over the course of his eight years as an MP.