A recent official engagement in London — between representatives of the Indian National Congress and Mr. Jeremy Corbyn (leader of the British Labour Party, and of their parliamentary opposition) — has created quite a stir.

According to Mr. Corbyn, it was a very productive meeting, in which they discussed the human rights situation in Kashmir and called for an end to fear and violence.

The news item beggared belief because it was unthinkable that the Congress would so openly seek to internationalize a matter entirely internal to India. For this, the Indian Press took the Congress party apart in fine style, and valiant Twitter warriors poured calumny on an Englishman most of them hadn’t even heard of until now.

The resultant fallout may have forced a visibly-flustered Anand Sharma of the Congress, to hastily convene a press conference for some serious damage control but what readers must understand, importantly, is that this meeting was in fact preceded by two other unsavory episodes.

Both took place in London, and both have umbilical links with L’affaire Corbyn.

First was an angry protest march towards the Indian High Commission in London, on 15 August 2019. The second was a rather nasty statement issued by the Labour Party, against the abrogation of Article 370. The party statement was bluntly rejected by the Indian Foreign Office.

The march, however, fuelled by Pakistani supporters, and led unapologetically and enthusiastically by Liam Byrne — the Labour MP for the Hodge Hill constituency, Birmingham, turned violent. There was stone-pelting by the protestors, vandalism, and the High Commission building was damaged.

Such incidents are almost unheard of amongst Commonwealth countries. Thus, while Indians are right to be horribly affronted by these developments, a good analyst would be better advised to try and decipher why such curious moves are happening in Britain of all places.

The answer sadly lies in British domestic politics.

As things stand today, Britain is hopelessly divided over whether to leave the European Union or not and if yes, how? It is a political quagmire that has already ended the careers of two Prime Ministers and looks set to end a few more before the issue is resolved.

Mid-term general elections were therefore called in 2017 to provide a clear direction to the British government. Instead, it threw up a hung verdict across 650 seats (see Table 1).