WORCESTER MP Robin Walker met with residents and the Muslim Welfare Association to discuss the issues in Kashmir.

On Friday Mr Walker met with the Mayor of Worcester, Allah Ditta, and offered the public an opportunity to ask questions regarding their concerns over the state – which has been the subject of a dispute over control between India, Pakistan and China since 1947.

India and Pakistan have been fighting over Kashmir since both countries gained their independence in 1947. Between 2008 and 2018, over 4,000 people were killed in separatist violence, according to the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, a human rights group.

Basharat Aly, who has been a Worcester resident for eight years, said: “I was only eight when my dad was killed by a sniper. I was the oldest in my family and my youngest sister was only six weeks old.

“My father was shot dead in front of his mother when they were working in the fields in Kashmir. My family life was ruined by the Indian army. We couldn’t get a proper education. There were so many things we couldn’t do. There’s no freedom.”

Mr Aly added: “I took my four children to Kashmir to show them where I grew up. We were stuck there for weeks. There were bombings and I couldn’t see my old home.

“We want to raise our concerns, being a British citizen, so that the government can put pressure on India to stop these things happening and give people basic rights.”

Mr Walker said: “We have taken up suggestions of the Human Rights violations but what we need is the evidence and the proof to take those up further.

“We need the individual cases and the links to the people living in the UK to then give us the rights to take these up on behalf of our own citizens.”

After the meeting, Cllr Ditta said residents were not entirely satisfied with Mr Walker's answers.

“There’s quite a large community of Kashmiri-orientated people in the area. They have their relations in the Indian-occupied Kashmir. I’m grateful for Robin to have come and given a bit of an insight. I’m not sure he has pleased the audience.

“The only voice they have is the MP. There’s a limit on what we can do as local councillors. But I’m trying to raise their voice with our MP.”

Cllr Jabba Riaz said: “The reports coming out are not good. There’s constant harassment, sexual abuse, cases of rape and injury. Children aren’t able to go to school and they live in fear.

“It’s a really dangerous situation for Kashmiri people. It’s extremely worrying – there’s a total media blackout.

“We urge the British government and other regimes across the world to condemn in the strongest possible way the Indian government for what they’ve done and prevent any massacres that may go on. That’s our passion and our plea. People from Worcester have direct relatives there and they’re extremely worried. It’s a seriously depressing time for them.”

City councillor Mohammed Altaf, who represents Gorse Hill ward, said: “I have had a lot of people come to see me who are from Kashmir. There’s a great concern because people in the UK don’t realise there are more people in Britain who are from Kashmir than India.

“Many people have concerns because they are from Kashmir. What’s going on there is completely out of order. We need to act fast on Human Rights and the MP must understand there’s a big concern because there are so many people in Worcester from Kashmir.”

The meeting was held on Friday, September 13 at Unity House Youth and Community Hub in Stanley Road.

READ MORE:

TRAIN ATTACK: Do you know this woman?

Hunt for van after second egg attack emerges in Worcester