Kashmiris, Sikhs, Dalits and Nepalese held a protest demonstration in London and other cities of the United Kingdom to protest Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UK.
They were carrying placards and raising slogans against “extremist policies of the Indian Government” and its “closing of eyes towards growing intolerance in the country against minorities.”
They also raised slogans “Go Modi, Go Back and Modi not welcome.”
Hundreds of protesters staged a demonstration outside Downing Street here.
The protesters also carried placards like ‘Hindutva is threat to Indian unity’, ‘Modi not welcome in UK’ and ‘Stop religious persecution in India’.
A number of groups had earlier announced a “day of protest” today, coinciding with Modi’s visit.
The “Modi Not Welcome” campaign is led by the Awaaz Network which is spearheading the protests.
In another move, the British parliamentarians Thursday wrote a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron demanding him to raise Kashmir dispute during his talks with India’s Prime Minister NarendraModi.
As many as 30 members of the parliament signed the letter demanding the British prime minister to raise Kashmir issue during Prime Minister Modi’s visit.
Six points have been raised in the letter, in which they stated that the Indian forces should be recalled from Kashmir and human rights violation issue in the valley should be raised.
In the letter, they further stated that the India’s prime minister should be pressurised for release of thousands of detained innocent Kashmiris. The British parliamentarians have also demanded the investigation into the killings of innocent Kashmiris.
Meanwhile UK academics researching development in India, expressed deep concern over Modi’s official visit to the UK.
In a letter in Guardian newspapers they said since Modi came to power in 2014, minorities and women have experienced rising intolerance and intimidation and cultural and academic freedoms have been eroded.
They said that under Modi’s rule, inflammatory hate speech 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. (Agencies)
