Press Release: 2nd March, 2013

Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) in UK has called for a fresh enquiry by the United Kingdom Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee to consider new steps towards a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue and to help curb human rights excesses in all parts of Jammu-Kashmir. JKLF president in UK, Azmat A Khan, has made this request through the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Kashmir, Lord Ahmed. Six years ago the Foreign Affairs Committee in London held such an enquiry but the JKLF claim that it was inconclusive as the Kashmiri input was not invited.

London - 12th February 2013

To mark the 29th martyrdom anniversary of Maqbool Butt Shaheed, JKLF in Britain organized a protest rally in front of Indian High commission in London. Despite severe cold, hundreds of people including women and children from different cities of United Kingdom participated. Protesters shouted slogans of “Stop Killings in Kashmir”, “Handover remains of Maqbool Butt”, “Handover body of Afzal Guru” and in favour of complete independence of Jammu Kashmir. Three British Parliamentarians including Simon Donczuk MP, Lord Nazir Ahmed and Lord Qurban Hussain also joined the protesters.

A petition signed by 38 British Parliamentarians was also presented to the officials of the high commission on this occasion. The petition asked the Indian President Pranab Mukherjee to handover the mortal remain of Maqbool Butt Shaheed to his relatives for proper burial.

Speaking on this occasion, JKLF in Britain, Prof Azmat Khan, condemned the Indian government decision to hang an innocent man, Afzal Guru, over the parliamentary attack case and called it a 'mockery of justice', and said that Afzal Guru was framed by Indian security services people and denied due legal process because they needed a scapegoat. 

He paid rich tributes to Maqbool Butt Shaheed and said that the only way forward for Kashmiri nation is to follow the teachings in practical terms and the ideology of this great Kashmiri leader.

Other JKLF leaders who also spoke on this occasion and paid tributes to Shaheed Maqbool Butt include Cllr Mahmood Hussain, Masoom Ansari, Riaz Butt, Aslam Mirza, Nazam Bhatti, Malik Latif Khan, Syed Tahseen Gilani, Sabir Gul, Malik Mushtaq, Khan Farooq Khan, Kaman Afsar etc.

Press Secretary,

JKLF UK Zone                     

Email: info@jklf.co.uk

Web: www.jklf.co.uk            /           www.JKLF.ORG

His Excellency,                                                   
High Commissioner of India
India House, Aldwych, London  

Your Excellency;

London Kashmiris and members of JKLF as well as members of UK Parliament are gathered here today to protest in strongest terms against the hanging of Afzal Guru on Saturday who was not involved in the alleged parliament attack but given the death penalty to satisfy ‘collective conscience’ of blood thirsty elements in India who seek to victimise Kashmiris for demanding their right to self-determination. We see this case as another attack on the  collective concience of Kashmiri people. The president of India made a political decision to hang Afzal Guru just as he did 29 years ago to hang the founding leader of the Kashmiri independence movement, Maqbool Butt, on 11^th Februrary 1984. It would appear that India learnt nothing from that mistake.

Amnesty International has expressed serious misgivings about the politically motivated trial against Afzal just as it did with the trial and execution of Maqbool Butt Shaheed.29 years ago this month.

Time will prove that  India cannot hang the Kashmiri sentiments to be free. Our people in Jammu-Kashmiri have not forgotten the fact that your government did not have the decency to return the mortal remains of Maqbool Butt Shaheed to his family and we hope that your government will not make the same mistake again in the case of Afzal Guru. It was the hanging of Maqbool Butt in 1984 that fuelled the people’s revolution in late 1980s and we firmly believe that Afzal Guru’s blood will haunt Indian occupation forces in Kashmir for years to come.

We sincerely hope that your governemnt will not make the same mistake as it did in the case of Maqbool Butt of not handing over his body to his family in Kapwara. We demand that Afzal Guru’s body should be handed over to his family in Sopore without further delay. 

We attach a signed petition from 37 members of parliament addressed to the president of India asking him to authorise the handing over of mortal remains of Maqbool Butt Shaheed to his family.

Azmat A .Khan
President. Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF-UK)
President@jklf.co.uk

___________________________________

Joint Letter from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Kashmir, UK

11^th February, 2013

To

His Excellency, Parnab Mukherjee

President of Republic of India, New Delhi,

India

We the undersigned members of parliament would like to appeal to your office to order the mortal remains of Kashmiri leader, Maqbool Butt, who was executed in Tihar jail, on 11th February, 1984 and buried within the jail premises, to be handed back to his family in Kashmir or to his children living in Pakistan. 

We make this appeal on humanitarian grounds as Maqbool Butt’s family members were not allowed to see him at the time of his execution and have waited long enough to receive his dead body for a decent burial in Kashmir.

Signed :

1.      Sir Gerald Kaufman, MP (Manchester)       

2.      Lord Nazir Ahmed                      

3.      David Ward, MP  (Bradford)                 

4.      Lord Qurban Hussain

5.      Debbie Abrahams, MP (Oldham)              

6.      Lord Bill McKenzie

7.      Gavin Shuker, MP  (Luton)                   

8.      Baroness Beverley Hughes

9.      Shabana Mahmood, MP Birmingham)         

10. Lady Sarah Ludford, MEP            

11. Fiona Mctaggart , MP (Slough)               

12. Phil Bennion, MEP           

13. Kelvin Hopkins, MP (Luton)                  

14. Sajjad Karim, MEP

15. Andrew Stephenson, MP (Pendle)            

16. Linda McAvan, MEP

17. Yasmin Qureshi, MP (Bolton)                                 

18. John Hemming, MP (Birmingham)          

19. Chris Leslie, MP (Nottingham)   

20. David Nuttall, MP (Bury)                 

21. Vernon Coaker, MP (Gedling)

22. Simon Danczuk, MP (Rochdale)             

23. George Galloway, MP (Bradford)              

24. Stephen Timms, MP (EastHam)

25. David Blunkett, MP (Sheffield)              

26. Ian Austin, MP (Dudley)

27. Steve Baker, MP (Wycombe)                  

28. Andrew Griffiths, MP (Burton)

29. Richard Harrington, MP (Watford)           

30. Jonathan Lord, MP (Woking)

31. Graham Stringer, MP (Manchester)                     

32. Sarah Champion (Rotherham)

33. Lucy Powell, MP (Manchester)                 

34. Paul Bloomfield, MP (Sheffield)

35. Dave Anderson, MP (Blaydon)                 

36. Richard Fuller, MP (Bedford)

37. Stewart Jackson, MP (Peterborough)              

London - 9th February 2013 (----Press Release---)

JKLF in London has organised a protest demonstration at the Indian High Commission in London on Monday, 11th February, and will be holding a meeting with UK members of parliament to discuss this issue along with the demand for the return of mortal remains of Maqbool Butt and Afzal Guru on the evening. 

JKLF chairman, Yasin Malik, who is currently on a private visit to Pakistan, is sitting on a 24 hunger strike in Islamabad to protest against the hanging of Afzal Guru, The JKLF supreme head Amanullah khan who is suffering from severe ill health is also on hungers strike in Islamabad today to protest against Pakistani silence over the issue.

Press Secretary,

JKLF UK Zone                     

Email: info@jklf.co.uk

Web: www.jklf.co.uk            /           www.JKLF.ORG

London (08 February 2013)

Kashmiri pro-independence organization the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) has called for a shutter-down protest in Kashmir on the 29^th Martyrdom anniversary of Kashmir’s independence leader, Maqbool Butt Shaheed. JKLF will take out a protest rally at Maqbool Butt’s birth place in Tregham, district Kupwara. Meanwhile, the UK chapter of the JKLF will hold a protest demonstration at the Indian High Commission in London 1pm – 3pm, when a parliamentary delegation of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Kashmir, led by its chair Lord Ahmed, will hand in a petition to the president of India to demand that Indian government should hand over the mortal remains of the Kashmiri leader to his family in Kashmir. The parliamentary petition has been signed by the following 33 Mps, Peers and MEPs.

1.      Lord Nazir Ahmed                      

2.      Lord Qurban Hussain

3.      Lord Bill McKenzie

4.      Baroness Beverley Hughes

5.      Lady Sarah Ludford, MEP            

6.      Phil Bennion, MEP           

7.      Sajjad Karim, MEP

8.      Linda McAvan, MEP

9.      Sir Gerald Kaufman, MP (Manchester)       

10. David Ward, MP  (Bradford)                        

11. Debbie Abrahams, MP (Oldham)                 

12. Gavin Shuker, MP  (Luton)                          

13. Shabana Mahmood, MP Birmingham)         

14. Fiona Mctaggart , MP (Slough)                    

15. Kelvin Hopkins, MP (Luton)                        

16. Andrew Stephenson, MP (Pendle)                

17. Yasmin Qureshi, MP (Bolton)                                    

18. John Hemming, MP (Birmingham)   

19. Chris Leslie, MP (Nottingham)      

20. David Nuttall, MP (Bury)                        

21. George Galloway, MP (Bradford West)    

22. Vernon Coaker, MP (Gedling)                    

23. Simon Danczuk, MP (Rochdale)             

24. Stephen Timms, MP (EastHam)                 

25. Lucy Powell, MP (Manchester Central)

26. David Blunkett, MP (Sheffield)               

27. Ian Austin, MP (Dudley)

28. Steve Baker, MP (Wycombe)                     

29. Andrew Griffiths, MP (Burton)

30. Richard Harrington, MP (Watford)             

31. Jonathan Lord, MP (Woking)

32. Graham Stringer, MP (Manchester)            

33. Sarah Champion, MP (Rotherham)

      

JKLF branch members from London, Luton, Watford, Slough, Peterborough, Birmingham, Dudley, Nottingham, Manchester and Bradford have already made arrangement to arrive in London on the day. 

A seminar on the life and legacy of Maqbool Butt Shaheed will be held in the House of Lords (Room 1) at 6pm to commemorate his 29^th death anniversary. JKLF Zonal president, Mr Azmat A. Khan and other Kashmiri leaders, Peers and Members of UK Parliament are expected to speak at the seminar to highlight world apathy towards the issue of Kashmir and debate the deteriorating human rights situation in occupied Kashmir.

Note for press: The petition will be handed in to the Indian High Commission, Aldwych, London at 2.00 pm. Those wanting to attend the seminar will need to arrive 1 hour early to obtain entry clearance to the Houses of Parliament.  

Press Secretary,

JKLF UK Zone                     

Email: info@jklf.co.uk