UK Labour Party MP Barry Gardiner has come out in support of the Centre’s stand over the Jammu and Kashmir issue. The party had been at the receiving end of backlash for taking a pro-Pakistan stand. 

However, MP Barry Gardiner has come out openly supporting India’s decision regarding Article 370. Gardiner spoke about the complex history of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan’s attempts to create unrest and violence in the region. 

Gardiner further supported the central government’s move and stated that Article 370 was discriminatory towards women, gay persons and minorities in Jammu and Kashmir and not only kept them deprived of the rights that are granted by the Indian constitution and but has also deprived the region of economic development.

Barry Gardiner had in 2013 invited PM Modi who was the then Gujarat chief minister, to address the UK House of commons. 

A journalist from NDTV who had invited him for a discussion on the matter, questioned him saying, “But you know he is also an extremely controversial figure here in India, and around the world. There has been so much controversy over him even in the UK, where there was a boycott of him in a sense until last year. He’s still not been given a visa to the United States. He is a controversial figure. You realise this would create controversy.”

To which Barry Gardiner swiftly called her out for her prejudice. He had even remarked that she had no respect for the country’s Supreme Court.