The United Kingdom unit of the Indian Overseas Congress on Thursday called Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s version of their discussions on Kashmir “twisted” and said the situation in the state is an internal matter of India, the Hindustan Times reported.
India had on August 5 revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution. It also divided the state into two Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, and imposed a curfew that is slowly being lifted.
“A very productive meeting with UK representatives from the Indian Congress Party where we discussed the human rights situation in Kashmir,” Corbyn had tweeted on Wednesday, along with a photo of his meeting with the Indian Overseas Congress delegates. “There must be a de-escalation and an end to the cycle of violence and fear which has plagued the region for so long.”
Indian Overseas Congress Spokesperson Sudhakar Goud said that, in fact, its eight-member team led by President Kamal Dhaliwal had insisted that external parties have no say in Jammu and Kashmir, which is an internal matter of India. “We condemn Corbyn’s tweet,” Goud said. “In fact, we repeated the statement of [Indian National Congress leader] Rahul Gandhi that Jammu and Kashmir is India’s internal matter. If there is any issue, Congress will fight internally within the Indian Constitution.”
Goud said his team also expressed its opposition to the emergency resolution on Jammu and Kashmir that the Labour Party adopted at its annual conference in September. Goud said he told Corbyn that senior Labour MPs Virendra Sharma and Keith Vaz had called for the resolution to be recalled.
However, the Bharatiya Janata Party attacked the Indian National Congress for the Corbyn fiasco. “Appalling!” the party tweeted. “@INCIndia owes it to the people of India to explain what its leaders are telling foreign leaders about India. India will give a befitting reply to Congress for these shameful shenanigans!”
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