Huge & unprecedented. Over 100 British Indian Orgs representing diverse communities across UK write in protest to… https://t.co/YgWjxaITyU — Respect British Indians (@BritishIndians) 1571043906000

NEW DELHI: Over 100 British-Indian organisations, representing diverse communities across the UK, wrote to the leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn on Monday condemning its "ill-conceived and partisan" Kashmir resolution in wake of the abrogation of Article 370 in J&K.The UK's Opposition Labour Party had on September 25 passed an emergency motion on Kashmir calling for party leader Jeremy Corbyn to seek international observers to "enter" the region and demand the right of self-determination for its people, drawing criticism from the Indian diaspora.In the letter addressed to Corbyn, the British-Indian organisations expressed dismay that the party had abandoned a long-standing cross-party position on Kashmir as a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan . "In doing so, the party has sown the seeds of community disharmony in the UK," it said.They said, "The emergency motion passed at the recent Labour Party Conference is not acceptable to us as it seeks to interfere in the internal matters of, and between, third countries and is drafted in a one-sided and partial manner.""We are also highly concerned about the wider attempts to bring the Kashmir issue into the domestic politics of the United Kingdom, which has serious ramifications for the community harmony."At a time when Brexit has already created deep divisions within our country, the last thing we need is to further divide different communities within the UK whilst destroying our diplomatic relations with the world's largest democracy and long standing, valued strategic partner," the letter said.The letter further said, "We are particularly dismayed by the virulent reaction by the Labour Party to the removal of an outdated, temporary provision that was hindering development of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, development for people of all religions, of all genders, of all ethnicities. Progress, human rights , and values which we would have expected the Labour Party to stand for."For the avoidance of doubt, our organisations do not take party political positions and include members of all parties and none. However, in this instance, we feel compelled to highlight this serious issue. We are consulting with members and community colleagues to reconsider the level and nature of engagement with Labour Party representatives going forward in the light of the strident position your party and you have taken," it added.In contrast with the British government's official stand of Kashmir being a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan, the Opposition resolution tabled at Labour's annual party conference in Brighton called for intervention by Corbyn to ensure someone from the party is represented to attend the United Nations Human Rights Council on the issue.India maintains that the Kashmir issue is a bilateral one and no third party has any role in it.