Pakistani and Kashmiri politicians had a lot of success in the recent UK elections. They helped make this parliament the most diverse ever seen in the UK.
15 MPs of Pakistani and Kashmiri descent were elected out of 87 candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds. This was in the elections held on Thursday.
Groups of people from Pakistan and Kashmir living in other countries were happy about their win. They want these MPs to talk about their problems, like living under occupation in Kashmir and Palestine.
The Labour Party had many of these winning MPs, like Afzal Khan, Imran Hussain, Naz Shah, Yasmin Qureshi, Muhammad Yasin, Tahir Ali, Shabana Mahmood, Zara Sultana, Dr Zubair Ahmed, Naushabah Khan, and Dr Rosena Allin-Khan. Two independent candidates, Ayoub Khan and Adnan Hussain, also won. S.aqib Bhatt and Nusrat Ghani won for the Conservative Party.
The Labour Party won enough seats to lead the government alone.
Fahim Kayani, a leader of Pakistani and Kashmiri groups, congratulated the winners. “These candidates winning is really good for our communities,” he said. “It shows that good things can happen.”
But, he said, the winning candidates mostly got votes from people who want them to talk for Kashmiris and Palestinians.
“It’s good that there are more lawmakers now who support Kashmir’s right to decide for themselves,” Kayani said. He noted that about 50 Labour Party candidates who support this idea won seats.
But, he was sad to say, some Conservative Party lawmakers who supported Kashmir lost their seats. “This includes Paul Bristow, who lost by just 118 votes.”
“Kashmiris and Palestinians hope that these new MPs will talk for them,” said Kayani, the leader from the Kashmiri group. He wants the new Labour government to make India and Israel listen to Kashmiris and Palestinians about their future.