London: As per the media reports to arrest the alarming rise of hindutva’s chauvinist and belligerent agenda in the Indian sub continent a joint Sikh and Kashmiri delegation through a memorandum urged the United Kingdom to change its policy towards sub continent.
The memorandum was reportedly submitted at 10 Downing Street, the office of the British Parliament, in London.
Categorically, characterizing the rising Hindutva fascism as a threat to Christians, Dalits, Muslims and Sikhs alike, the Sikhs and Kashmiri representatives said that ” it is a threat that breaches India’s international legal obligations. They further said that compelling India to comply with universally accepted legal and humanitarian norms was the key to bringing India back in to line.
A joint Sikh and Kashmiri Delegation outside 10 Downing street.
They cited the hugely authoritative report issued in February by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) which details the numerous constitutional and legal restrictions on minority religious freedoms in India, as well as this week’s open letter by 65 senior Indian civil servants which condemned the rampant ‘majoritarianism’ of the establishment, media reports said.
Media reports indicate that the joint delegation has called for the implementation of the USCIRF report’s recommendations which include changes to the Indian Constitution (such as the removal of outrageous provisions that deem Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains to be Hindus for the purposes of personal and religious law) and operationalising the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.
“An unchecked Hindutva agenda in India makes resolution of those conflicts impossible; hence the international community must require India to formally accept and comply with the right of self-determination as enshrined in Article 1 of the 1966 Covenants on Human Rights,” the memorandum said. India has formally rejected that right – something which the UN and leading member states have said is unacceptable, it added, reads a quote from a report published in Kashmiri print.
The memorandum was signed by Amar Singh Chahal, Prof Nazir Ahmed Shawl, Amrik Singh Sahota, Gurdev Singh Chohan and Joga Singh respectively. More importantly, it was also countersigned by Dr Iqtidar Cheema, the author of the USCIRF report which was also formally handed over at the same time.