14 December 2020
Dear Debbie Abrahams, Chairperson All Parties Parliamentary Group
Re: Situation of human rights in Pakistani controlled Jammu and Kashmir
With reference to my letters to you dated 05 September 2020, and 20 September 2020, I want to ask you some questions.
In those letters, I pointed out the human rights situation in so called Azad Kashmir and in Gilgit Baltistan. Also, I raised a question of illegal detention of Mr Tanveer Ahmed, a British Citizen.
It is sad that you don't even care to reply to my letters, which is unusual. Also you have not done anything about the illegal arrest and detention of a British Citizen, which is a matter of great concern to me and many other British Kashmiris.
I understand, you and many other members of the APPG are more concerned about human rights abuses of the people of Jammu and Kashmir living under the Indian control; however, we people living on the Pakistani side of the divide are also human beings, and deserve to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the UN Charter.
I hope that you and the APPG also shares this view that ‘Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person’, and that ‘No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’.
Perhaps, in view of some people, human rights of Mr Tanveer Ahmed may not be their concern, as he belongs to the Pakistani side of the divide; and the country which has illegally arrested him and still keeps in jail without any charges is Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
However, for the true human rights defenders, and those who genuinely believe in democratic rights and liberal ideals, this is a serious matter. I am sure you and other learned members of the APPG are aware of this bitter fact that there are tens of thousands of missing people in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Anyhow, on the issue of Tanveer Ahmed I want to quote a BBC report, which says:
‘There are growing concerns for the wellbeing of a British man facing up to three years in jail for taking down a Pakistani flag from a public square in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Tanveer Ahmed Rafique, a 48-year-old activist who has called for the disputed region to be granted independence from both Pakistan and India, was detained in August in the city of Dadyal. His wife told the BBC he has held a number of hunger strikes in protest at being denied bail and had become "extremely weak".
If you and other members have any interest in understanding the plight of Tanveer Ahmed, then they can read the full BBC report on this issue.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
Apart from that, I request the honourable members of the APPG to pay attention to the rigged elections in Gilgit Baltistan, and the Pakistani endeavours to change the legal status of this strategically important region. People of the area are not only deprived of their fundamental rights, but are also seriously concerned about looting and plundering of their natural resources.
Furthermore, in clear violation of the State Subject laws tens of thousands of Pakistanis are settled in Gilgit Baltistan which is not only changing the demography of the region; but is also resulting in religious, social and cultural disharmony and unrest.
Our understanding is that the APPG on Kashmir is for the entire former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir, and not for the areas controlled by India. If the APPG finds human rights abuses taking place on the Indian side of the divide, do expose them, oppose them and condemn them; however, the same should be done when the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is the culprit.
I hope that you will not forget to invite me and other colleagues in your future meetings.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Your sincerely
Dr Shabir Choudhry
President Foreign Affairs Committee of United Kashmir Peoples Party.
Tel: 07790942471
Email: drshabirchoudhry@gmail.com
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