Extract from Westminster Hall debate on International
Humanitarian Law: Protecting Civilians in Conflict Mr Khalid
Mahmood (Birmingham, Perry Barr) (Lab):...I declare an interest as
I begin the next section of my remarks, about Kashmir—a region that
has not been mentioned by many speakers in the debate—and human
rights. The situation there has continued for 70 years, over the
period we have been considering. Protection is given by the Indian
state to the military and it cannot be...Request free trial
Extract from Westminster
Hall debate on International Humanitarian Law: Protecting
Civilians in Conflict
Mr (Birmingham, Perry Barr)
(Lab):...I declare an interest as I begin the next section of my
remarks, about Kashmir—a region that has not been mentioned by many
speakers in the debate—and human rights. The situation there has
continued for 70 years, over the period we have been considering.
Protection is given by the Indian state to the military and it
cannot be held accountable in a court of law within the civil
structure of India. Abuses happen day in, day out, and mass graves
have been found. Torture is commonplace—including of children,
women and people with disabilities. We need an open arena where the
issues can be discussed, rather than just pointing fingers.
However, people must be held accountable. The country that purports
to be the largest democracy in the world should be held to account
for the way it treats its people. My constituents from Punjab in
India raise significant issues in that respect and we should be
keen for development and progress on those issues...
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Extract from Westminster
Hall debate on History Curriculum: Migration
(Strangford) (DUP):...I thank the
hon. Lady for giving way again; her speech, including its
introduction, is excellent. Does she agree that it is essential
that our children understand the importance of how migrants have
flocked to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
for years and have integrated well into our systems? It is
important to understand that not all immigrants wish to have
“their” country and “our” country; indeed, our country is made up
of those who live here, integrate and raise their children to be
British, and who have made this nation as great as it is today. In
my constituency, there are Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Indians,
Chinese, people from eastern Europe, and people from Nigeria and
Kenya. All those people together have made this nation great.
(West Ham) (Lab):...Constituencies
such as mine have been blessed with diversity. We include
Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Indians, Africans, Caribbeans, Irish and many
others in our number. When we hosted the Olympic games—it was not a
London Olympics, but a West Ham Olympics—we believed that we had a
resident representative from every participating country living
right there in West Ham. Many in my community have immigrant
backgrounds, as do some of my closest and dearest family. It simply
would not be the place that I love so dearly without them; and we
would be much poorer, not only economically but creatively, in
terms of the ideas and perspectives that we can draw on. We would
be able to communicate so much worse if we did not have those
communities living with us, talking with each other and learning
from perspectives. Imbibing the cultures and the stories helps us
to communicate so much better as a society. That is why it is
really important to me that children are taught to see migration
for what it is—not just economically beneficial and not just a
charitable act, but unreservedly good for our communities and
absolutely essential for our future...
(Wythenshawe and Sale East)
(Lab):...More recently, we have had immigration
from India, and the Keralan community has come
to populate our hospitals with nurses. Suddenly, on a huge council
estate in Wythenshawe, we have Keralans who believe that St Thomas
the Apostle directly proselytised their people when he left
Jerusalem after the ascension of Christ. Thousands descend on our
community to decorate our church and parade in our streets, and
they make a huge contribution both culturally and to our
NHS....
...I was pleased to be able to sponsor one of the great
consultants in my local hospital, Binita Kane, who was a star in
the show about partition that some Members may have seen. The BBC
did a show on the 70th anniversary of partition and its impact on
the nations of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Imagine, Sir
Gary, that you had been in Manchester on Sunday. Oh my word, there
were only 26,000 tickets for the global show of India versus Pakistan—the most globally
viewed sporting event ever, we think. On the night of the local
government elections, I was at the place where we hold them, in
Trafford, chatting to the chief executive of Lancashire Cricket
Club, and he said that 1.2 million people had applied for tickets
for the game. But how many of our young people know how the
conflict was driven and what happened to millions of people in the
area during partition?
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