LONDON (UK) – Member of the House of Peers Lord Ranger, who is also the patron of the Conservative Friends of India, has flayed the “anti-India” policy of the Opposition Labour Party.
Baron Ranger of Mayfair said though the Labour Party has a new leader, Sir Keir Starmer MP, “their policies still remain the same – anti-India”, adding that the new deputy leader of the party, Angela Rayner MP, continues to spew venom against India. He was referring to her interview with a television channel in which she expressed her position on the state of Kashmir in India, which he believes is an affront to the sovereignty of the country. In the interview, Rayner said, “I’ve been very vocal about making sure that the people of Kashmir have basic human rights and self-determination.”
Lord Ranger, the founder of Sun Mark, an award-winning London-based global marketing and distribution firm, expressed indignation at Rayner’s comments, saying, “Kashmir is not an independent country. She is working against the women of Kashmir who are now enjoying equality for the first time in their lives. As you know, the secular constitution of India guarantees equality to every citizen regardless of race, religion or gender. But they wish to divide people with their policies.”
He urged Britons to think twice before voting for the Labour Party because of its policy which undermines the sovereignty of a nation. “Your vote could be undermining the sovereignty and independence of India,” he said.
Last year, Lord Ranger made a similar intervention when a fellow peer of Indian origin demanded self-determination for Kashmir. Ranger challenged him on Twitter and asked if he “supported religion over merit”. Later, in an interview with an Indian television channel, he said self-determination should not come at the cost of dismembering a nation and creating divisions.
The same year, the Labour Party courted controversy when it passed a resolution seeking external interference in solving the Kashmir issue.