On the first anniversary of the unilateral revocation of articles 370 and 35A from India’s constitution, on 5^th August 2019, and the removal of the special status of Indian-administered Kashmir, I will be joining protestors outside Sheffield Town Hall calling for international action against human rights abuses and a settlement of the long-running dispute over the country. I’ve also co-ordinated the following call for action from Sheffield’s Labour MPs:

“One year after the revocation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which protected the special status of Kashmir, we call on the Government to press the international community to increase efforts to end human rights abuses in Kashmir, to seek the withdrawal of draconian emergency laws imposed by the Government of India and, working with India and Pakistan, to secure a just and lasting settlement based on UN resolutions on the rights of the Kashmiri people to self-determination.”

Since the Indian Government’s unilateral decision to remove the special status of Indian-administered Kashmir a year ago today, reports indicate that conditions in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have significantly deteriorated, although the Kashmiri people have been suffering for years. The United Nations 2018 and 2019 reports on the human rights issues in Indian-administered Kashmir and Pakistani-administered Kashmir have documented the extent of these abuses.