British Parliamentarian Bob Blackman, Member of Parliament for Harrow East returned on Monday from his 10 days long maiden visit to India. He was joined by his wife and former councillor Nicola Blackman and his aide and founder of Kashmiri Pandits Cultural Society UK, Lakshmi Kaul.
He first travelled to Srinagar where he was hosted and accompanied by BJP MLC, Surinder Ambardar. Bob offered his prayers at the revered Hindu temple of Goddess Kheerbhawani that is constructed over a sacred spring and is managed and run by the Dharmarth Trust.
A series of meetings were arranged in Srinagar by the host and BJP MLC Surinder Ambardar for Bob wherein he met members across regions and religions, representing the civil society, young lawyers, non-displaced Kashmiri Pandits, recently re-settled Kashmiri Pandits who returned to the valley on the Prime Minister’s resettlement package, young politicians, traders and members of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce.
In Jammu Bob received a grand welcome by local communities. He visited the Raghunath temple and the archives run by the Trust in the temple premises.
In a traditional programme organised by the J&K Ex services league and Dogra Sadar Sabha, Bob was welcomed along with Lakshmi Kaul, founder of Kashmiri Pandits Cultural Society UK and Manu Khajuria, Founder of Voice of Dogras as the ‘Daughters of the Soil’ for their contribution to raising the voice of the region in the UK.
In a programme organised by the Department of History at University of Jammu, Bob had the opportunity to address the students. During his stay in Jammu, Bob met the founder of PDP, Muzaffar Hussain Baigh to gain an insight into the party’s founding and history. He called on the former Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Nirmal Singh at his residence too and met with the Indian diplomat and author, G Parthasarthy and retired Vice Air Marshal Kapil Kak.
Bob met and interacted with a number of other intellectuals from the state. He also met displaced Sikh community reps from the PoJK region as well as representatives of the Kashmiri Pandit community who are in the process of resettling in Srinagar.
In Delhi Bob met with some key ministers and politicians including the National Security Adviser of India, Mr. Ajit Doval, Minister for External Affairs, Mrs. Sushma Swaraj, Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen V K Singh, Minister for Science and Technology, Dr Harshvardhan, Minister of Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy, Mr. Piyush Goyal among others. He also called on the Acting British High Commissioner, Dr. Alexander Evans OBE, shared his impressions of the state and discussed concerns over security and travel advisory in the state of J&K for British Nationals.
He visited Swaminarayan Akshardham in New Delhi to experience India’s ageless beauty, borderless culture and timeless values. Both Bob and Nicola Blackman are regular visitors to the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in London, which they have been supporting for more than the last 20 years.
For full report see: www.asian-voice.com
