(Harrow East)
(Con):...When we come back after the recess, there will be
an ongoing consultation—the Government have wisely enabled it to be
extended—on removing caste as a protected characteristic from our
equality legislation. I believe that consultation will now conclude
on 14 September, having originally been due to conclude by the end
of July. It is vital that the message goes out from this House that
British Hindus have an opportunity to input to the Government
consultation, so that the Government have the evidence they require
to ensure we remove this ill thought-out, divisive and unnecessary
legislation.
(Leicester East)
(Lab): May I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his
re-election as chair of the all-party group on British Hindus? I
share his concern about that part of the legislation, which is
causing concern among the Hindu community, as Harrow and
Leicester are very similar in terms of their Hindu population,
and I pledge my support for the campaign he has launched.
: I thank my right
hon. Friend—I will call him that here—for that intervention and I
trust that he can persuade the members of his own party, not only
in this House but in the other place, to support the Government
on doing what we want to see happening for British Hindus up and
down the country.
The final area I will touch on is the situation in Jammu and
Kashmir. I have tabled an early-day motion, which I believe seven
other hon. Members have signed, in relation to the attack on
innocent Hindu pilgrims in Anantnag by Lashkar-e-Taiba, an
internationally recognised terrorist group, led by Abu Ismail.
The UK must stand with India to combat this international
terrorism and to prevent the situation from escalating still
further. There have been attempts in this country to celebrate
Burhan Wani, who died last year. He was a murderous Islamic
terrorist and the commander of Hizbul Mujahideen. There was an
attempt in Birmingham to hold a demonstration about his death,
which would have been a direct challenge to the UK’s values of
harmony and tolerance. I am delighted that that demonstration was
shut down before it happened, but the Government must do more to
target all those who celebrate terrorists.
