05 March 2014
Dear Mr Simon Danczuk MP for Rochdale
Re:
Issue of the British Kashmiris recognition
It was pleasure to not that
you have very kindly and rightly supported people of Jammu and
Kashmir’s
campaign to be recognised as a separate ethnic community in Britain.
You have rightly said that "Many Kashmiris have an incredibly strong sense of
ethnic identity; they do not want to be counted as Pakistani or Indian, because
this is not how they think of themselves". Also as you have pointed out,
we pay taxes and make a valuable contribution to the British economy.
Failing to recognise
us as a separate ethnic group will practically mean negating our contribution
and depriving us from our identity and sense of belonging; and this feature can
have a negative connotation and can drive some people to search for another
identity, which may make them an easy target of the extremist groups.
It may be in the interest of
those forces which occupy us to ensure that we don’t get a separate Kashmiri
identity in Britain, but is it not responsibility of a democratic society to
ensure that no community is treated unfairly and deprived of national identity.
I hope that as a responsible
and respected Member of the British Parliament you will continue to support our
rights and rights of other communities; and help to create a society where no
one is treated unfairly because of race, religion and ethnicity.
You have won minds and
hearts of thousands of Kashmiris; and we expect support from conscientious
people like you for our right of self determination that people of Jammu and
Kashmir can determine their future.
Although I am not your
constituent, but I look forward to meeting you in near future.
Yours sincerely
Dr Shabir Choudhry
On behalf of Kashmir
National Party
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