Any moves relative to Jammu and Kashmir will forever be a subject for the Government of India, not for outside nations to cry foul or make unwarranted or unjust remarks.
LONDON: I first became aware of the challenge of the security situation in Jammu & Kashmir in the early 1990s when the Kashmiri Pandits were ethnically cleansed from their ancestral home in the valley under the threats from Islamic terrorists. I eventually had the very fortunate and privileged opportunity to visit Srinagar and Jammu in 2016. I was struck by the beauty, and everyone I met, from a variety of religions, spoke of the tremendous opportunity for tourism, agriculture, handicrafts, hydro-electric power generation and “Smart Cities”. The only proviso being that security was paramount.
I have long promoted the clear position that the entirety of Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India which was determined in 1947 with independence being given to India. The “temporary” provisions of Article 370 were a peculiarity and held back the development of the economy of Jammu & Kashmir for too long. The decision by the Indian government to revoke Article 370 of the Indian Constitution was therefore correct and amends historical wrongs.
Narendra Modi’s government was clear in the general election that if they won a majority they would proceed with this move—the Indian public were consulted, they in turn gave the BJP a considerable mandate, and have now carried out their pledge. I have previously written to the Prime Minister and my letter has been shared widely on social media and I wanted to make sure that key points were heard and understood in the UK, in the face of shameful anti-India sentiment—stoked up largely by the UK Labour Party, who have made Jammu and Kashmir discussions highly partisan.
Constitutional changes are a matter solely for the nation in question: third nations should not meddle or intervene; otherwise, diplomatic norms and procedure are overridden. Any moves relative to Jammu and Kashmir will forever be a subject for the Government of India—not for outside nations to cry foul or make unwarranted or unjust remarks.
Indeed, the long-standing policy of the UK has always been that Jammu and Kashmir is a bilateral concern for India and Pakistan, however, Imran Khan has shown himself incapable of acting like a statesman. His historical remarks provide a stark insight into his utter lack of experience at the top level and how out of his depth he is. Khan should familiarise himself with the history of the region before speaking such untruths again.
India stands alone in the region for its tolerance of minority religion. A person of any faith can rely on India to treat them with respect and parity and going beyond religion, India protects minorities of all walks of life. When compared with its regional neighbours, India is a beacon of equality and brotherhood between different groups.
A well-known letter circulated by Labour politicians here in the UK included comments made about “land grabbing” and “exclusive Hindu settlements”—these remarks are incredibly ignorant, dumbfoundingly insensitive, and make all signatories of the letter guilty of bad faith revisionist history. With these remarks they have ignored the plight of Kashmiri Pandits: themselves the victims of ethnic cleansing through the actions of radical Islamist terrorists, and by denying the Kashmiri Pandits their claim to victim status the letter signatories are on the wrong side of history.
People in the UK and beyond need to set aside their ideologies, realise this decision is just—and accept Narendra Modi is governing the entire region in the best interests of all of its citizens.
Bob Blackman is a Conservative MP who represents Harrow East in the House of Commons. He is Chair of the Indo-Pacific APPG and of the British Hindus APPG (All-Party Parliamentary Group) in UK Parliament.