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Srinagar, May, 05 2013 (PPI-OT): A convoy of vehicles from Bradford, UK, will head 5,000 miles to Jammu and Kashmir later this year in a show of solidarity to the people of Kashmir, a media report has said. The convoy was officially started at a public meeting on Friday at the Pakistani Cultural Centre at White Abbey Road with the donation of its first vehicle, a former ambulance.
It is hoped another 59 vehicles will join them by the time they set off from Bradford on September 29, picking up more en route with up to 200 finally crossing the Channel on the first leg. Respect party leader and Bradford West MP, George Galloway, will be joining them and hopes to be with it for the whole duration, which could be up to three weeks, said ‘Bradford Telegraph.’
Although the convoy is being organised by the Respect party, it is not a political mission, said Peter Davis, who is one of the people behind it. The Telegraph said that the vehicles would try to get into occupied Kashmir but it was likely they would be refused permission and turned away – so will pull up at the Line of Control instead.
Davis said, “Our thought is that just by making the journey to that point we will have made our point raised awareness of what is happening in Kashmir and showed our solidarity.” “We have lots of work to do in the run-up to September and need to get more vehicles and volunteers signed up. Each vehicle will need two drivers and 4X4 would be ideal for the kind of terrain we will be crossing or hardy vehicles like the former ambulance we’ve already been given,” he added.
Galloway said that the convoy to Kashmir was about highlighting the tragedy of the region and the people, which had been running now for more than 60 years. “It’s not about aid or humanitarian relief. It is an attempt to bring the world’s attention once more to what has been an intractable problem, getting it back on the international agenda,” he maintained.
“We take no side, we aren’t advocating any solution other than that the people of Kashmir must have the right to choose their own future and governance,” he said, adding that there were tens of thousands of people in Bradford and West Yorkshire of Kashmiri heritage, most still with friends and families there.
“I expect that we will be taking 50 or more vehicles from here, picking up many more as we move south through Britain and hundreds more on the way. It’s a massive administrative undertaking but we’ve managed several convoys in the past and I am sure it will be a huge success.”
The convoy will be self-funded but organisers are hoping to hear from local businesses who might want to help with sponsorship to cover some of the costs.
For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Phone: 92-51-4435548, 4435549
Fax: 92-51-4861736