London
More than 45 UK MPs and peers have co-signed a letter written by Member of Parliament Warrington South Faisal Rashid calling on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to intervene and prevent India’s unconstitutional attack on Kashmir’s autonomy.
“We are deeply alarmed by reports that the Indian government has revoked Article 370 of constitution, stripping Kashmir of its autonomous status,” the letter states. “This unilateral decision is a direct attack on the political status of Kashmir and its right to self-governance. The revocation of Article 370 will have far-reaching and dangerous consequences for the region. It also represents a betrayal of the constitutional settlement between India and the people of Kashmir,” it maintained.
“We also note that Prime Minister Modi has long been an exponent of militaristic, hostile anti-Muslim views as the political figurehead of a far-right Hindu-nationalist movement. His administration has overseen an aggressive erosion of the legal and constitutional foundations on which the Indian republic stands,” the letter stated. “The revocation of Article 370 represents a significant escalation of this process in what is the only Indian-occupied Muslim majority state,” it added.
“As secretary-general, we call on you to urgently bring this matter to the attention of the Security Council as a serious threat to the maintenance of international peace and security. We note with alarm that India and Pakistan, whose longstanding differences in this region nearly led to open warfare just months ago, possess nuclear capabilities. —INP
