Dear Jeremy,
A little introduction about myself
before jumping to the subject.
I am a Scot of Indian origin,
living in Scotland for almost 12 years with my family. I am a Software architect by profession and have been living in Edinburgh since my arrival in
the UK. Like many Scots of Indian Origin, I was disturbed by your recent
tweet on Kashmir shown below
It's a late response but still
important that you read this because a large section of Scots of Indian origin,
will vote en masse against Labour. SNP has taken a similar view on
Kashmir and they will be voting against SNP too. If antisemitism can be an
election issue why not anti-Hinduism. Our votes matter too.
Let me give a background of Kashmir
issue, from an Indian perspective (the perspective from a free and open
society) and it is not based on the Islamic view.
First, a short history.
When the British ruled India, there
were 565 princely states in India -- they were not directly ruled by the
British. So, when the British decided to leave and India was to be partitioned
into two countries. The princely states were given a choice of joining either a
non-theocratic "Republic of India" or the
theocratic "Islamic Republic of Pakistan", giving due
consideration to geographical contiguities and religious composition.
Three princely states that stood
out were Jammu and Kashmir (J & K), Junagadh, and Hyderabad.
The latter two were Hindu majority
states ruled by Muslim kings and J & K was different.
The Nawab of Junagadh--egged on by
Shahnawaz Bhutto, his minister (whose son ZA Bhutto went on to become future PM
of Pakistan) acceded to Pakistan. India sent troops, held a plebiscite and
Junagadh was incorporated into India.
Hyderabad and J&K kept vacillating.
Eventually, India sent troops to Hyderabad, which duly became part of
India. In Kashmir, Pakistan sent "irregulars" to invade.
Just like Pakistan operates in Afganistan under disguise today. (People with
the knowledge of the region will acknowledge that "Taliban leaders are
nothing but Pakistani ISI in baggy pants !!!". It was not a coincidence that Osma
Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan)
Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of
Kashmir, was Hindu. With Pakistani irregulars knocking at the doors, Maharaja
Hari Singh appealed to the Indian government for military assistance. He signed
the Instrument of Accession, ceding Kashmir to India on October 26, 1947.
Here it is important to give the
religious demographics of the state of Jammu & Kashmir. Unlike the
popular opinion that circulates today, it was not a Muslim Majority state even
in 1947. J &K has 3 major regions Kashmir, Jammu & Ladak.
Kashmir - a Muslim majority with also had about 400,000 Hindus.
Jammu - Hindu Majority and Ladak - Buddist Majority.
The Prime Minister of India at that
time, Mr. Nehru, took the Kashmir issue to the UN Security Council.
Pakistanis misquote the US security
council resolution that it suggested Plesbicite for self-determination, without
ever reading it. It was interesting to see you quoting UN resolution. If you have not read already, please do read the UN resolution
on Kashmir, it was short and very clear. The UN resolution proposed 3 things and they
are sequential in nature.
1. Pakistan should withdraw
troops and should refrain from interfering militarily by direct or indirect
means.
2. Once the first condition is
fulfilled to the satisfaction of the Commission, India has to reduce the
military presence in Kashmir to the minimal.
3. After the above 2 are done then
conduct the plebiscite to know the will of the people of Kashmir.
The first condition never happened,
so there is no need to get to the second and Third. Three wars have been fought
by India and Pakistan over Kashmir. About 400,000 Kashmiri Hindus were driven
out by forcibly out of Kashmir. This mass exodus happened after Benazir
Bhutto called for "direct action" and Mosques in Kashmir started
threatening calls in their speakers.
Please refer to the recent
testimony of a Kashmiri Hindu Journalist named Sunanda Pushkar in the US
congress about the Kashmiri Hindu massacre and exodus.
Imagine driving out the
population of the size of Glasgow and then asking for a referendum. The
calls for the plebiscite are irrelevant unless the displaced Kashmiri Hindus
are resettled.
The recent removal of Article 370
is nothing but integrating Kashmir fully with India. Muslims always wanted to
be treated special. The SNP government has given in to this wish with
"Islamophobia" law in Scotland. Unlike Muslims, we Hindus do not want
to be treated special instead be treated equally like other citizens.
That is a fundamental difference.
Even when we disagree, we
Hindus will
not go on a rampage like the Muslims cause a carnage because that is
not in our culture instead, we will express our displeasure democratically with
votes.
If you wish to hear the Hindu
Perspective and engage with us, then we will have a Hindu Delegation to meet
the Scottish Labour leaders. We will continue to engage with SNP
& Scottish Labour, but our community can't vote for you unless the Labour
position on this issue changes.
This election is about Brexit. I personally voted remain, but after EU referendum and especially after the lack of
leadership in the last parliament, many of us decided to move on and get over with Brexit. That's why 'Get Brexit done' resonates with us. We can’t have 2 more referendums and 2 general
elections in the next 5 years. It is a more likely scenario under your leadership. You have not figured out your
strategy on Brexit even after 3 years.
Ian Murray is a Great MP from my constituency
of Edinburgh South. Scottish Labour is different from English in its views towards
immigrants. I sincerely wish him that he wins again and continues his good
work. But this Westminster election is
about Brexit and I can’t accept the labour under your leadership. Labour under your leadership is so far
left it makes Tories look like centre.
Today is the polling day, my
prediction is that Tories will easily cross 400 seats. I will be looking forward to your resignation
in the next few days. Best wishes for an alternate career.
References:
1. US security council
resolution of April 1948.
3. https://www.opindia.com/2019/09/london-pakistani-mob-led-by-british-labour-mp-attacks-indian-high-commission-smash-windows/.
It is worth noting there is no BBC news link coming up in search results. That
tells a lot about the BBC.
