On July 17 2024, an election leaflet of the Conservative Party member Marco Longhi went viral on social media where he casually propagated Hindu Hate and anti-India stand. In the leaflet, he appealed to the Muslims living in his constituency to vote for him so that he could raise Kashmir Azadi issue the UK Parliament.
Addressing voters of the British Pakistani and Kashmiri community in Dudley, he wished them on Eid-al Adha. Pointing out that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been re-elected in India which means it will be tougher times for the people for the people in Jammu and Kashmir in the coming months.
The leaflet read, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear that he is going for a full statehood of Kashmir in the coming months, which would mean full removal of any sovereign rights of the Kashmiris and their special status. He added that he was elected as MP in 2019 and since then he has been vocal about the Indian government atrocities towards the people of Kashmir.”
The leaflet further read, “My involvement is well publicised and I have participated in several Kashmir events. I have always condemned India’s continuous illegal actions in Kashmir. He then specially highlighted and underscored the name of the Labour Party Parliamentary Candidate Sonia Kuma, targeting her for her surname, even going to the extent of highlighting her surname in capital letters.”
The leaflet read; “I leave this decision to you. However, you should vote for me, I pledge to you that I will raise my voice for Kashmir in Parliament even more and will be at the forefront of standing up for the Kashmiris in Parliament.”
Labour Parliamentary candidate in Leicester East, Rajesh Agarwal condemned the leaflet issued by Longhi and said, “This is a shameful attempt to divide communities and is offensive to Hindus as well as Muslim communities. There should be zero tolerance for the dog whistle politics Longhi is engaged in. He urged the British PM Rishi Sunak who also comes from the Conservative Party to remove support for Longhi’s campaign and apologise for attempting to alienate British Indians,” he said.
On the other hand, Longhi defended the leaflet saying that he was simply vocally supportive my Kashmiri community within my constituency. He further argued that that Dudley has a very mixed community and he represents al lot of people Many of them in the past have told me that they are very concerned about what’s happening in Kashmir, “he added.
Asserting that the leaflets was part of politics, he said, “This is politics, isn’t it? Do you want someone who has been consistently been supportive of Kashmiris, where there have been human rights abuses or do you want to see someone called Sonia Kumar, who no one has heard of. I don’t see why there is a problem for me to highlight members of the Kashmiri community.”
When asked why he highlighted Kumar’s surname, he said, “All they have had is a leaflet from Starmer. I am standing against Kumar. Longhi further claimed he was simply representing a group within wider communities and this was particularly representing Kashmiris Sonia Kumar has not reacted to the leaflet.
