BJP, Congress slam UK Parliament's move to hold debate on Kashmir

NEW DELHI: BJP and Congress were on the same page today as they frowned upon a proposal in Britain's House of Commons to hold a debate on the state of human rights in Kashmir.

" British Parliament's decision to discuss Kashmir issue condemnable. Can we take up Falkland Islands or Scotland issue for discussion in our parliament?" BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav said in a post on microblogging site twitter.com.

Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi struck a similar note, saying that, "British parliament should focus on Scotland rather than Kashmir. We are able to handle our problem."

Reports from London said that the House of Commons would hold a special debate on the Kashmir issue today with the proposed move having seriously irked India.

Calling the Kashmir dispute a "threat" to regional and global peace, Liberal Democrat British MP David Ward informed the Backbench Business Committee that the new Indian government has been "quite aggressive in terms of its stance towards Kashmir" which was "opening up a whole new area of uncertainty".

Ward secured a 'General debate on political and humanitarian situation in Kashmir' as part of the regular Backbench Business Committee application process in the House of Commons.

Ward represents Bradford East in the House of Commons. Bradford city has the biggest Pakistani-origin population in Britain.

Deputy High Commissioner for India in the UK, Dr Virander Paul, had recently said, "From time to time, we find that there are certain tendencies in certain sections of the society, which are not in the interest of our strong relations. We need to watch out and be mindful of any such efforts."