- UK academics say Indian PM must be held accountable for his record on human rights
British parliamentarians on Thursday wrote a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron demanding him to raise the Kashmir issue during his talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As many as 30 members of parliament signed the letter.
Six points have been raised in the letter, in which they stated that the Indian forces should be recalled from Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) and human rights violation issue in the valley should be raised.
In the letter, they further stated that the Indian PM should be pressurised to release thousands of detained Kashmiris who are innocent.
The British parliamentarians have also demanded an investigation into the killings of innocent Kashmiris.
Meanwhile UK academics researching development in India, expressed deep concern over Narendra Modi’s official visit to the UK. In a letter in the Guardian newspaper, they said that since Modi came to power in 2014, minorities and women have experienced rising intolerance and intimidation, and cultural and academic freedoms have eroded.
They said that under Modi’s rule, inflammatory hate speeches and violent acts against Christian and Muslim minorities have steadily increased. Modi’s silence and delayed response to all these crimes does nothing to stem the violence.
“We support the recent statements by eminent scientists, academics, artists and writers in India who seek to draw attention to growing intolerance in India. In the past year, various freedoms have been attacked, including what people may think, eat, wear, and whom they choose to love. Three secular critics have been brutally murdered and these crimes are linked to extreme rightwing groups,” the academics asserted.