Today, on Kashmir solidarity day, I am here to reiterate my support for the people of Kashmir and their fight for self-determination. Self-determination has been the basis of my whole political career.
If we do not control our own destiny, then we cannot have either security or dignity.
History tells of many people who have made great sacrifices to escape slavery, or to protect themselves or others from tyranny; the desire for self-determination is so strong that millions have been prepared to lay down their lives in pursuit of it.
Since taking up my duties as a Member of the European Parliament in 2009, I have been aware of the campaign to keep the issue of Jammu and Kashmir to the fore. It is, after all, one of the biggest human rights challenges the global community is facing at this time.
We know what rights the people should have, but why more than 60 years after the original UN resolution are the people of Jammu and Kashmir still awaiting the referendum that will allow them to determine their own future?
As an MEP, I stand up for those who are seeking a referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union. As a proponent of referenda, I also stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Kashmir who have been promised a referendum which has never materialised.
On a recent trip to the US, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, I found myself standing on the very spot where Martin Luther King, in August 1963, delivered one of the most influential speeches of the last century.
I look forward to the day, and it is coming, when the Kashmiri people can echo Dr King's words "Free at last, free at last, free at last".
