BRITISH PARLIAMENT COMMEMORATES 75TH JnK ACCESSION DAY

On Thursday, October 27, the British Parliament hosted a historic celebration of the 75th anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh signing the Instrument of Accession, which allowed the former Princely state of Jammu and Kashmir to join India.

The Jammu Kashmir Study Centre UK, a think tank devoted to the study of Jammu and Kashmir, organised the event, which was hosted by Conservative MP Bob Blackman, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG) for India and the APPG for Indian Traditional Sciences, and chair of two APPGs for trade and investment with India and the Indo-Pacific.

Over 100 people attended the event, including a large number of local council members, community leaders, ambassadors from different organisations, diaspora residents, and friends of India. Theresa Villiers MP of Chipping Barnet and Bob Blackman MP, who hosted the event, as well as Virendra Sharma MP, Chair of the APPG for India, and Ovessa Iqbal, First Secretary, High Commission of India, were present.

Subject matter experts and stakeholders from all around JK gave video lectures, including Prof. Sajjad Raja, a resident of District Bhimber, PoJK, and Alok Bansal, Director of the India Foundation and Executive Director of the South Asian Institute for Strategic Affairs.

Theresa Villiers MP said, “So often we hear ventilated in the House of Commons debate on Kashmir which is wrong, misleading, incorrect, downright lies and it is great that you are all here to talk the truth about Kashmir, to get some balance in this debate”. She expressed her desire to hear more about Jammu and Kashmir.

Ovessa Iqbal, First Secretary, Indian High Commission, emphasised the advancements being made by Jammu & Kashmir and the rapid progress that has occurred since Art. 370 was repealed in all fields and throughout the state.

The JKSC UK team brought up the Pakistani invasion of Jammu and Kashmir and the terrible days between October 22 and 24, 1947, when Jammu and Kashmir was subject to killings, looting, plunder, rape, and kidnapping of women at the hands of the tribal invaders from Pakistan, led by Pakistani army regulars, in an effort to dispel myths and refute falsehoods surrounding the Accession.