We believe that the actions of Mr Virendra Sharma MP should be investigated by the Labour party and that he should be held to account for the letter that he wrote to Tim Davie, the director of the BBC, to complain about the borders of their map pertaining to Kashmir and India. Furthermore we urge the BBC to show the correct borders of Kashmir upheld by the United Nations.

Mr Sharma has disrespected the Labour Party, United Nations resolutions, and human rights. It was quite clear in the content of his letter that he was quoting Indian BJP policy and not British policy or Labour Party policy. Both recognise the entire state of Kashmir as a disputed territory and are also aware of the human rights violations.

On October 27th 1947 the Indian government illegally entered and occupied Jammu and Kashmir against the will of the people. There have been extreme reports of abuses to human rights including murder, torture, rape, mass graves, missing family members, illegally incarcerated prisoners, blinding with pellet guns, fake encounters which are all in complete violation of the United nations articles and charter. On 5th August 2019 India illegally revoked article 370 35a, removing any rights they have to determine their own future and against international law. India is also in violation of the Geneva convention with their attempts to change the demography of the region. Further to this an independent report was recently published by EU DisinfoLab, title “Indian Chronicles” detailing one of the largest ever disinformation campaigns in Europe. It was organised by Indian stakeholders, to further the interests of the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

India unilaterally and illegally revoked articles 370 35a which removed all rights for Kashmiris to determine their own future as has been promised for 73 years. As such Jammu and Kashmir is under the protection of the United Nations resolutions and the United Kingdom has a duty to be bound by the these; therefore, it is clear that Kashmir is not an integral part of India.

The BBC is well respected and committed to sharing impartial news. Any map of Asia should show the boundaries of Kashmir as a disputed territory. It was Britain who partitioned Kashmir temporarily and allowed for a plebiscite to be held at a future date. Unfortunately, this has still not happened. The BBC has a duty to be open, honest, and transparent in their reporting and they have allowed themselves to be misguided and misinformed by Mr Sharma.

The Labour Party is an international party and is committed to protecting human rights and upholding the Universal Declaration of Human rights enshrined in the UN charter. Mr Sharma has clearly disrespected human rights, UN resolutions and the labour party and has also misguided the BBC. We urge the Labour Party and the BBC to act according and uphold British democratic values, decency, tolerance, honesty and respect for fairness, truth and justice.

Claire Bidwell LKD-UK
Muhammad Lukman deputy Sec. Gen. Tehreek e Kashmir UK.