Awareness about Kashmir issue increasing in UK: activist.

Byline: Tariq Naqash

MUZAFFARABAD -- A British Kashmiri political activist has claimed that awareness about the repercussions of the unresolved Kashmir issue among the native British people is increasing with each passing day.

'India's Aug 5 move to annex occupied Kashmir has come as a blessing in disguise because it has made many people in the West dig deep into the genesis of this longstanding issue as well as implications of inaction to resolve it in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people,' Slough-based Khawaja Abdul Ghani told reporters on Monday.

The press conference was held by him to announce his decision to end his 52-year-long association with the Pakistan Peoples Party and join Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

Originally hailing from the town of Hattian Bala in Muzaffarabad division, Mr Ghani was flanked by PTI's central joint secretary and former AJK minister Khawaja Farooq Ahmed on the occasion.

According to Mr Ghani, after India's Aug 5 move the participation of British Kashmiris from both sides of the divide and the British Pakistanis in pro-freedom and anti-India demonstrations in the United Kingdom had increased significantly.

But more than that native Brits and people from other communities, believing in fundamental human rights, were also turning up in...