NEW DELHI: The All Party Parliamentary Group for British Hindus, the Kashmiri Pandit diaspora and allies held an event to commemorate “33 years of Kashmiri Pandits genocide” on Wednesday. The event took place at the Houses of Parliament, and was hosted by Bob Blackman, chair, All Party Parliamentary, APPG group for British Hindus.
An Early Day Motion (EDM) was also tabled to commemorate “Genocide of Kashmiri Pandits”, signed by cross-party MPs, reminding them that justice was yet to be done. Blackman reiterated his support for India and the Kashmiri Hindu community and reminded that it was Pakistan’s invasion of Kashmir that led to erstwhile Maharaja Hari Singh acceding to India.
“Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley was ethnic cleansing,’’ Blackman said, adding that he removal of Article 370 was a good decision. “I visited Kashmir in 2016 and couldn’t go after that. The exodus happened as the Hindus who were in a minority were risking their lives by being there. Muslims in the Valley may have been around for hundreds of years, but Hindus lived before them for thousands of years,” he added.
Speaking about the removal of Article 370, he said, “Would it not have been outrageous if Britain only gave jobs to Christians? In the same way it’s good that the removal of Article 370 is giving a level playing field.” He added that efforts must be made to dispel widespread ignorance about the truth of the matter within the UK and the world. He also spoke about the recent BBC documentary against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing it as a “hatchet job”.
Speaking at the event, MP Jonathan Lord, Woking, said that just as we must never forget about the Holocaust, we must not forget this.