Political Documents - Kashmir
Page 1

Sample of letters to British Newspapers

To: Ivan Barnes Esq. Letters Editor, The Times, 1 Pennlngton St., London, El 9XN
Date 2nd March 1998

Dear Ivan Barnes,

Security forces in Indian-held Kashmir have committed atrocities on civilians - torture, rape, indiscriminate looting, to name but a few, on a mass scale - on the pretext of containing insurgents; rather these actions are a means of forced subordination which is contrary to the wishes of the vast majority of Kashmirs.

Britain has never condoned the violation of human rights in any international, political conflict. Indeed, she has always supported the rights of peoples towards national self determination (for example the recognition of ‘Bangladesh’ as an independent state in 1971)

The treatment meted out to Kashmiris by the state is already disturbing, God knows what may happen to them (genocide ?) if the extremist BJP were to come to power in India (and the elections are currently taking place).

Will the British government make it clear to the present, and forthcoming, Indian government, that the preparation of atrocities cannot be tolerated by Britain and its allies.

The Kashmiri people must legitimately be allowed the option of a referendum on political devolution as a first step towards full independence.

PS. I am not myself of Kashmiri origin.

From The Mail on Sunday
Date 7 March 1998

Dear Mr Azam

I am dealing with Russell Forgham’s post while he is away from the office taking some annual leave. I am writing to acknowledge your letter and to say that I have forwarded a copy on the News Desk.

I am grateful to you for taking the time and trouble to write to us to report these atrocities committed against the Kashmiri people.

Yours sincerely
Letitia Black
Managing Editor’s Office.

From The Rt Hon. Gerald Kaufman, MP
Date 9 March 1998

Dear Dr Azam

Thank you for your letter dated 4 March with regard to Indian held Kashmir. Mr Kaufman is out of the office today but I shall put your letter before him on his return.

Yours sincerely,
(Signature illegible)

From; Beverley Hughes MP, Labour Member of Parliament for Stretford and Urmston
Date 10 March 1998

Dear DrAzam

Thank you very much for your letter of 5 March concerning the situation in Indian-held Kashmir.

I have written to the Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, to urge the Government to put pressure on the Indian Government to prevent any such atrocities. I enclose a copy of my letter for your information. As soon as I receive his response I will contact you again.

In the meantime, if I can be of further assistance with this or any other matter please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely.
Beverley Hughes MP
(Following letter enclosed)

From; Beverley Hughes MP, Labour Member of Parliament for Stretford and Urmston To The Rt Hon Robin Cook, The Foreign Secretary, The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Whitehall, London. SW1A 2AH

Date 10 March 1998

Dear Robin

Dr UmarAzam, P0 Box 39, Manchester, M16 8UA

I enclose a self-explanatory letter from my above-named constituent concerning atrocities in Indian-held Kashmir.

I would be grateful for your comments on the current situation in Kashmir and for your assurance that the British Government is using its influence with the Indian Government to ensure the atrocities described in Dr Azam’s letter do not continue.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely
Beverley Hughes MP

From Tony Lloyd MP
(Not Dated)
Form Acknowledgement) Thank you for your communication of the 4/3/98 which will receive attention.

Tony Lloyd

From; The Times
Date 9 March 1998

Dear Dr Azam,

Although we thank you for your letter to the Editor, Dated March 2, which was read with interest here, we regret that we were unable to publish it.

Your sincerely,
(Signature illegible)
p.p. Ivan Barnes Letters Editor.

From Paul Goggins MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East
Date 12 March 1998

Dear Mr Azam

Thank you for writing to me about the situation in Kashmir. As Tony Lloyd is your Member of Parliament I have passed your letter on to him so that he can respond to your concerns.

From; "Mirror Group"

Date 17th March1998

Dear Dr Azam

Thank you for your recent letter that’s been passed to me for attention.

We always welcome our readers’ letters - though we have limited space in which to publish them - and your comments have been noted.

Thank you again for taking the time to write and share your thoughts with us.

Kind regards.

Yours sincerely.

(Signature illegible)

CUSTOMER SERVICES DEPARTMENT

From Beverley Hughes MP, Labour Member of Parliament for Stretford and Urmston
Date 20 March 1998

Dear Dr Azam

Please find enclosed a copy of a letter received in this office from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, acknowledging my letter of 10 march.

The letter promises a full reply and I will write to you again as soon as I hear anything further. However, if I can be of any assistance in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me.

(Following letter enclosed)

From; Foreign and Commonwealth Office
To Ms Beverley Hughes MP
Date 13th March 1998
Received, 19 March 1998
Our Reference: 116465

The Rt. Hon Robin Cook MP acknowledges receipt of you letter of 10 March1998, about your constituent Dr Umar Azam concerning atrocities against civilians in Indian-held Kashmir.

The matter is receiving attention and a reply will be sent as soon as possible. If in the meantime you have any queries, please contact this office on 0171 270 2057

(Unsigned)

Rt. Hon Robin Cook MP’s Office.

From; The Sunday Times
Date 19th March 1998

Dear Dr Azam

Thank you for your letter. We would like to have been able to publish it, but there is space in our correspondence columns for only a fraction of the 500 or so letters received each week, and I am afraid that yours was not among those selected.

Yours sincerely (Signature illegible)
pp Parin Janmohamed

Letters Editor

From The Financial Times

Received 24th March 1998

The Editor thanks you for your recent letter, and is sorry that on this occasion it has not been possible to find space for publication.

From The Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Date 23 March 1998

Dear Dr Azam,

Thank you for your letters of 4 March to Robin Cook and Tony Lloyd about Kashmir. I have been asked to reply.

Derek Fatchett, Foreign Office Minister responsible for our relations with South Asia, set out the Government’s policy on Kashmir in a written answer to a Parliamentary Question on 28 October 1997.1 enclose a copy for your information.

We agree that the human rights situation in some parts of India gives cause for concern. During his visit to India in June last year, Mr Fatchett explained to the Indian Government our commitment to human rights and urged in particular an improvement in the human rights and urged in particular an improvement in the human rights situation in Kashmir. We shall continue to impress upon them the importance of greater openness in bringing wrongdoers to justice and the benefits of greater transparency in investigating abuses. We hope that they will allow more visits by international human rights groups, including Amnesty International, to India.

Against this background, we have welcomed the steps taken by the Indian government to meet international and domestic concern about human rights. They have provided access to Kashniir for international visitors and some humanitarian groups, including the International Committee of the Red Cross. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which was set up in 1993, has been increasingly active in promoting respect for human rights. Both the NHRC and the judiciary have publicly criticised human rights violations by the police and security forces. The state government in Kashmir set up a Human Rights Commission last year and announced their intention to give local police greater responsibility for law and order, we are also encouraged by the Indian government’s recent signing of the UN Convention against Torture, early ratification would be further evidence of their commitment to safeguarding human rights.

The above is based on Mr Fatchett’s reply of 19 March to your member of Parliament, Ms Beverley Hughes, in response to your letter to her on the same subject.

Yours sincerely, Martin Fenner South Asian Department.

Enclosed; R31b Extract from Hansard 28 October 1997. Page 795 Written answers page 90.

Heading: Kashmir

19. Mrs Brinton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his Department’s policy towards Kashmir. [12132]

22. Mr. Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his Department’s policy towards Kashmir. [121321

Mr Fatcheth We are deeply concerned by the continuing conflict in Kashmir and support the search for a just and lasting solution. We condemn the acts of terrorism and the abuses of human rights which bring suffering to the population. We call for an end to all external support for violence in Kashmir. We welcome the dialogue between India and Pakistan and urge them to pursue meaningful talks on Kashmir and the other issues that divide them.

From 3everley Hughes MP, Labour Member of Parliament for Stretford and Urmston
Date March 26 1998

Dear Dr Azam

Please find enclosed a copy of a letter received in this office today from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The Letter is self explanatory, and I hope that the reply is useful and to your satisfaction. However, if I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

(Following letter enclosed)

From Foreign and Commonwealth Office
To Beverley Hughes MP
Date 19 March 1998

Dear Beverley,

Thank you for your letter of 10 March to Robin Cook, enclosing a copy of one from Dr Umar Azam, P0 Box 39, Manchester M16 8UA, about Kashmir. I am replying as Minister responsible for our relations with South Asia.

I set out the Government’s policy on Kashmir in a written answer to a Parliamentary Question on 28 October1997. I enclose a copy for Dr Azam’s information.

We agree that the human rights situation in some parts of India gives cause for concern. During my visit to India in June last year, I explained to the Indian government our commitment to human rights and urged in particular an improvement in the human rights situation in Kashniir. We shall continue to impress upon them the importance of greater openness in bringing wrongdoers to justice and the benefits of greater transparency in investigating abuses. We hope that they will allow more visits by international human rights groups, including Amnesty International, to India.

Against this background, we have welcomed the steps taken by the Indian government to meet international and domestic concern about human rights. They have provided access to Kashmir for international visitors and some humanitarian groups, including the International Committee of the Red Cross. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) which was set up in 1993 has been increasingly active in promoting respect for human rights. Both the NHRC and the judiciary have publicly criticised human rights violations by the police and security forces. The State government in Kashmir set up a Human Rights Commission last year and announce their intention to give the local police greater responsibility for law and order. We are also encouraged by the Indian government’s recent signing of the UN Convention against Torture. early ratification would be further evidence of their commitment to safeguarding human rights.

Initialled

Derek Fatchett.

To Beverley Hughes MP, House of Commons, London No.515
Date 27th March 1998

Dear Beverley Hughes,

I am writing to inform you that I’ve received a letter from Martin Fenner of the South Asian Department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In it he explains in detail the latest situation in Kashniir (for example the Indian government’s recent signing of the UN convention against torture). Though these are some encouraging signs, the situation remains tentative. Mr Fenner has also enclosed a ‘WRITTEN ANSWERS’ sheet for parliamentary proceedings of 28th October1997.

I would like to thank you sincerely for asking Derek Fatchett, Foreign Office Minister responsible for relations with South Asia, to outline the Government’s policy on Kashmir, and the current situation in that state.

PS. I’ve just received your letter by second post. Thanks.

To Derek Fatchett Esq.
No.519
Date 28th March 1998.

Dear Derek Fatchett

Thank you for providing Beverley Hughes MP with details of the latest situation in Indian-held Kashmir; she kindly sent me a copy of your letter to her, dated 19th March It was gross of you to explain to the Indian government Britain’s commitment to human rights, and that there be an improvement in the human rights situation in Kashmir - I note these details from that same letter.

Mr Fatchett, I do not condone the terrorists activities of the Kashmiri guerrillas. But for India to govern Kashmir, there must be the consent and unwavering loyalty to India amongst the Kashmiri people and this is obviously, not the case; unlike the situation, for example, in Northern Ireland, where the majority support union with Britain. Hence, the Kashmiri guerrillas are not like the IRA, since what they fight for represents the common will of the vast majority of the Kashmiri people. Although terrorist methods are unacceptable, the above consideration does give Kashmiri guerrillas a sizeable measure of legitimacy.

So it follows that if almost the entire population of Kashmir do not wish to be subject to Indian rule, and indeed actually resent it, then the Indian government should accept this fact.

When the colonial era came to an end in the Indian subcontinent in 1947, Britain made a mistake. ‘Pakistan’ and ‘East Pakistan’ were formed because of religions considerations; these were Muslim, whereas a majority of Hindus continued to reside in the partitioned India. But Kashmir was, and is, predominately Muslim and so it follows that Kashmir should either have joined Pakistan, or else become independent in its own right, in 1947, not remain part of India. So this is where the whole problem stems from, why the Kashmiri people are fighting for independence (and I am sure that you know very well the historical context).

Will the British government impress to the Indians that the only real solution is the political devolution of Kashmir, as a first step to the full independence of this state.

Thank you for all your efforts to date, Mr Fatchett, and our Foreign Minister Robin Cook, should be commended for tackling the Indian government over Kashmir; it was unfortunate that political retaliation caused him humiliation.

From Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Date 7Apr11 1998

Dear Dr Azam, Thank you for your letter 28 March to Derek Fatchett about Kashmir. I have been asked to reply.

We have noted your further comments on this issue.

We believe that a solution to the problem of Kashmir is primarily for India and Pakistan to find and, as you will have seen from Mr Fatchett’s statement of the government’s policy, we have welcomed the dialogue between the India and Pakistan and have urged them to pursue meaningful talks on Kashmir, We also believe that a solution, if it is to be permanent, must be acceptable to all the peoples of Kashmir, whatever their race or religion.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Fenner

South Asian Department

To Beverley Hughes MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A OAA No. 521
Date 28th March 1998

Dear Beverley Hughes

Thank you very much for raising the Kashmiri matter in the Commons and for writing to Foreign Minister Robin Cook. I have written a letter to Derek Fatchett Esq. and a copy is enclosed for your information.

Be sure that I will contact you in the future if there is cause for fresh concern in this or any other issue. Thank you for doing a good job representing your constituents.

From; Beverley Hughes MP Labour Member of Parliament for Stretford and Urmston
Received April 2nd 1998

Beverley Hughes MP acknowledges with thanks the receipt of your communication of the

27.3.98 the contents of which have been noted.

To Madeleine Albright, Foreign Secretary, The White House, Washington DC, USA. Date 5th March 1998

Dear Madeleine Albright

I am writing to draw your attention to the terrible plight of civilians in Indian-held Kashmir: Young men are taken away for torture and interrogation, often never to be seen again; women are molested; family members are shot indiscriminately in their own homes and in front of one another. As if the situation were not tragic enough already, there is the added danger of the complete genocide of the Kashmiri people if the BJP party gains anymore influence within India (thank God it did not win power in the recent election).

The United States has never condoned the violation of human rights in any international, political conflict; this is because the US is a model democracy. Indeed, she has often supported the rights of peoples towards national self-realisation (for example, by recognising Bosnia - Herzegovina’ in 1992).

Please will you and President Clinton have the new Indian government in no doubt that the perpetration of atrocities will not be tolerated by the US and the decent international community

The Security Council Members of the United nations have the power to end the Kashmiri conflict by pressurising the Indian government to allow the Kashmiri people the option of a referendum on political devolution as a first step to the granting independence.

Please help; millions of people are relying on you.

PS I myself am not of Kashmiri origin but I felt I had to write to you because I feel so troubled at the plight of the Kashmiri people.

C2 Oral Comment by Mr Khan, a Kashmiri-bom respondent to ‘Kashmiri Correspondence’ received at his home 2nd March 1998.

Very few people could do the work that you have been doing ( corresponding with the Goverrunent about the plight of the Kashmiri people). By doing this work, you have (definitely) helped the people of Kashmir."

From Paul Goggins MP for Wythenshawe and Sale EasI, House of Commons, London SW1
Date 9th April 1998

Dear Dr Azam,

I have been sent the enclosed correspondence from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

As you are a constituent of Beverley Hughes I would ask that if you require any assistance in the future that you contact her office directly as I am unable to enter into correspondence with a constituent of another MP.

(Following letter enclosed)

From; Foreign and Commonwealth Office
To Paul Goggins MP

Dear Paul

Tony Lloyd passed to me the enclosed letter from Dr Umar Azam to you.

Dr Azam wrote in identical terms to his constituency MP, Beverley Hughes, who in turn sought comments from Robin Cook. As Minister responsible for our relatIons with South Asia, I replied on Robin’s behalf. I enclose a copy of my letter for your information.

We have retained a copy of Dr Azam’s letter for our files.

(Initialled)

Derek Fatchett.

To His Excellency The Ambassador, Embassy of the Russian Federation. 13 Kensington Palace Gardens, London. W8 4QX No. 527
Date 3rd April 1998

Dear Ambassador,

I remember reading in EASTERN EYE newspaper a couple of weeks ago that Russian politicians were attempting to bring about a peace negotiation in Kashmir which might be to the mutual satisfaction of both India and Pakistan.

The vast majority of residents in Indian-held Kashmir do not wish to be part of India. During the partition of 1947, the whole of Kashmir should have become part of Pakistan (because Kashmiris are Muslims), or else been granted independence in its own right.

India does not have the consent of Kashmiris to coerce and dominate them. There cannot be peace unless the Kashmiris are given the chance to vote on their future by plebiscite - there must be the political devolution of Kashmir, to be followed by full independence.

I very much hope that Russia will use its terrific influence with India to stress this clearly.

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