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Labour leader Keir Starmer in a bind over ‘repositioning’ India policy
Buffeted by competing demands and claims by the pro-India and pro-Pakistan lobbies in the party, Starmer, who took over from Jeremy Corbyn in April, has been gradually distancing the party from the ‘Corbyn era’, which was seen in sections of the community as being anti-India.
Labour leader Keir Starmer has come under fire for what is seen as ‘repositioning’ its policy on Jammu and Kashmir, which previously had an overtly international and human rights-based focus, but has moved in his bid to rebuild trust with India and the Indian community in the UK.
Buffeted by competing demands and claims by the pro-India and pro-Pakistan lobbies in the party, Starmer, who took over from Jeremy Corbyn in April, has been gradually distancing the party from the ‘Corbyn era’, which was seen in sections of the community as being anti-India.
Several Labour MPs – particularly those leading pro-Kashmir interests such as Debbie Abrahams, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Kashmir, who was deported from India in February after Indian officials said she was travelling on a wrong (business) visa that was cancelled – are due to meet Starmer on Thursday to discuss the ‘repositioning’ that sees the Jammu and Kashmir. Several individuals and groups have angrily asked him to reconsider the new approach.
There were ripples and more in London and the UK when New Delhi made fundamental changes in the status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, leading to violence outside the Indian high commission and anger in sections of the Indian community against Labour. The ministry of external affairs had rejected a Labour party resolution seen as ‘anti-India.’
Starmer last week set out the ‘repositioning’ in a statement with the Labour Friends of India, a lobby group in the party. His focus on building “even stronger business links with India” and conception of the Jammu and Kashmir issue is seen by his critics as betraying human rights values.
Starmer said in the statement: “We must not allow issues of the sub-continent to divide communities here. Any constitutional issues in India are a matter for the Indian Parliament and Kashmir is a bilateral issue for India and Pakistan to resolve peacefully. Labour is an internationalist Party and stands for the defence of human rights everywhere”.
“A Labour Government under my leadership will be determined to build even stronger business links with India and to co-operate on the global stage on issues such as climate change. I look forward to meeting the Indian high commissioner in due course to open a renewed dialogue between the Labour Party and the people of India,” he added.
The Pakistani community in the UK has largely stood by Labour even as large sections of the Indian community have gravitated towards the Conservatives in recent elections. It remains to be seen how the Pakistani community responds politically to Starmer’s perceived pro-India stance, since moving to the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats is not exactly an option.
Starmer wrote to the Hindu Forum of Britain (HFB) last week and made similar points, further riling his critics such as the South Asia Solidarity Group, Momentum Internationalists. The HFB had raised issues such as “caste legislation, anti-India stance and Hinduphobia” in the Labour party.
Indian circles remain cautiously optimistic on Starmer’s overtures, viewing his statements as a bid to move on from the Corbyn era, but keenly observing how he deals with the challenge of retaining support of the Pakistani community, which closely identifies with issues related to Jammu and Kashmir.
