Member of London Assembly Navin shah, who landed in India on March 8th, is stuck here due to suspension of flights to Europe and UK. Speaking to WION's Ayushi Agarwal, he asked what the British foreign office was doing to repatriate British citizens like him who are stuck in foreign countries.

Member of London Assembly Navin shah, who landed in India on March 8th, is stuck here due to suspension of flights to Europe and UK. Speaking to WION's Ayushi Agarwal, he asked what the British foreign office was doing to repatriate British citizens like him who are stuck in foreign countries. He also spoke about the ground situation in the UK and what does he expect from the governments of India and the UK. WION: As a people's representative from the UK, you are here and stuck, so what is the solution that you are looking at and what is your expectation from the government? Where is the clarity required? Navin Shah- My wife and I, both elected members from the UK, came to India because of family bereavement on March 8th but are now stranded due to cancellation of international flights till March 31st. We are lucky that we have a family with whom we are staying. Thankfully we are in great health and are vigilant but also observing total self-isolation and feel as safe as one can be in these exceptional circumstances. WION: As a lawmaker and as a political leader of the UK, who knows India and UK well, what do you think the government can/should do? What is the exact problem that is being faced by people like you who are crisscrossing countries? Navin Shah- The problems for foreign nationals like us who are stranded are in a way two-fold. One is how the Indian government can support them to sustain and be safe whilst they are here. However, it is the British Foreign Office who has responsibility for British citizens. They need to have a clear policy and plan for urgent repatriation of British citizens stuck in foreign countries. Also, the questions is that what is the role of British High Commission here in India and for that matter in other countries as well who need to contact their national and make them aware of what the British government is doing to take them back to the UK and once they are there how well they are protected. WION: What do you have to say about the ground situation in the UK which seems going out of control? Can you also comment on the way the UK is progressing? Navin Shah- I'm closely following through the media what is being done in the UK by the government there and am content with their directions so far. I don't believe that the situation there is out of control. From my first-hand knowledge, I feel reassured that the Mayor of London is doing everything he can to work with the PM and agencies to keep Londoners safe. This is a very complex problem and a big challenge for all governments. We need to be vigilant. WION: How do you think the UK and India, can help each other in such a situation? Navin Shah- It is upon all countries to work together to attack the biggest ever threat faced by the humankind and that is why there is need to co-operate, learn lessons from situation in other countries -good practices for saving lives. We have to look at this issue comprehensively. There is also a challenge on how people who are trapped in foreign countries are repatriated. We need strategic plans which is an international plan who are stranded can expect from their respective countries. We should follow their guidelines to make sure of safety. Follow simple principle: Stay safe - stay home.

'Situation in UK is not out of control,' says member of London Assembly Navin Shah stranded in India 

In an exclusive interview with WION,&nbsp;Indian-origin London assembly member Navin Shah spoke about his letter to London Mayor&nbsp;Sadiq Khan and Home Secretary of Britain&nbsp;Priti Patel&nbsp;to ban anti-India protests planned on Diwali in London.

WION: You wrote a letter to London Mayor Sadiq Khan about the upcoming protest march. Are you happy with the response that you have received?

Navin Shah: I am pleased that the Mayor of London has given a very comprehensive response to my letter in which he has strongly condemned the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/london-pak-plans-another-march-outside-indian-high-commission-on-diwali-wion-dispatch-257362">demonstrations planned on Diwali</a>. He has reassured me that the metropolitan police will have a robust policing plan to ensure that violence and the mayhem that took place on India's Independence Day outside the Indian High Commission is not repeated again. The Mayor in the letter has also confirmed the&nbsp;Indian community's rich contribution towards London's&nbsp;success as a&nbsp;world city.

It is further reassuring that the Mayor is concerned about the divisions that such protests can create and he has copied my letter to the Metropolitan Commissioner as well as the Home Secretary to see whether they are prepared to ban the demonstration planned on Diwali day.

WION: The Indian High Commission has witnessed two violent protests already.&nbsp;What do you make of the action the British government has taken so far? &nbsp;

Navin Shah: The ugly and violent incidents that took&nbsp;place outside the India High Commission is&nbsp;certainly not acceptable in any civilised society. There is no excuse for such behaviour in any community and therefore the wide condemnations of those incidents is&nbsp;the right thing.

In my view, the metropolitan&nbsp;police could have done better but I am pretty sure the lessons have been learnt&nbsp;and if the demonstrations go ahead on&nbsp;Diwali, I expect the metropolitan police to be prepared to deal with any behaviour which is unruly and&nbsp;brings about public disorder. It is the reason why in addition to writing to the Mayor of London, I have also written to the commissioner of metropolitan police to make sure there is no repeat of such incidents that had&nbsp;taken place outside the Indian High Commission.

WION: Is the British government doing enough to address India's concerns about the protests?

Navin Shah: I appreciate the way the Indian government is concerned about the situation with regard to the situation&nbsp;in Kashmir. I truly believe that UK government or UK politicians should not interfere with the internal affairs of third countries. Those countries should be left to determine on how matters like these should be resolved in a right and&nbsp;responsible way espeically when it involves complex matters like Kashmir.

WION: Should foreign governments and politicians be interfering with India’s constitutional matters such as removal of the special status of Kashmir? &nbsp;

Navin Shah: I am of the view that foreign governments and politicians should not be interfering in what is clearly India's constitutional matter. India should be left alone to determine what it wants to do in terms of such constitutional matters, they tend to be complex and let India deal with that instead of foreign government or politicians.

WION: What actions do you expect after raising your concerns?

Navin Shah: Manning of demonstrations is entirely the responsibility of the Home Secretary and that is why I have written to honourable Priti Patel to ban the planned demonstrations at the earliest opportunity. This is the right thing to do. I hope the Home Secretary, the government and the commissioner of police will listen to me, will listen to the community at large and do the right thing. And let us hope that we will have a happy, peaceful and the kind of Diwali we always expect, appreciate and demand.&nbsp;

WION: The leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, has taken a tough stand against the Indian government on Kashmir. Do you agree with your party's position?

Navin Shah: I am appalled that the accepted protocol of not interfering in the internal affairs of a third country was dumped by the Labour Party at the conference and an ill-conceived, partisan motion was allowed to go through. This demonstrates my party’s astounding insensitivity and failure to scrutinise the motion before accepting it for debate.

The debate was unbalanced and went unchecked - for example one of the speakers supporting the motion made deplorable comments about the Indian army raping women; comparing Modi with Hitler and allegations of 10,000 women being gangraped. I wonder what efforts were made to check the authenticity of such statements!

Given the partisan and ill-conceived position taken by the Labour Party, it is no wonder that the&nbsp;Indian community&nbsp;and community organisations are fuming across the nation. Diplomatic relations with India are in tatters and divisions and conflict have been created within diverse communities.

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REVISED TWEET: Concerned re <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kashmir?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kashmir</a> Rally planned on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Diwali?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Diwali</a> day &amp; resultant disorder+deep offence 2 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hindu?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Hindu</a> community. Written to <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorofLondon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MayorofLondon</a> to help stop the Rally. Glad Mayor condemns the protest &amp; approached <a href="https://twitter.com/metpoliceuk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@metpoliceuk</a> Commissioner &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/patel4witham?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@patel4witham</a> to ban the Rally. <a href="https://t.co/KuuXLqHcxu">pic.twitter.com/KuuXLqHcxu</a>
— Navin Shah AM (@NavinShah2016) <a href="https://twitter.com/NavinShah2016/status/1185585069907419142?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2019</a></blockquote>
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All our hard work of community cohesion and credibility is being challenged due to partisan politics and is seen as an anti-India stance taken by the Labour Party through the disastrous motion on Kashmir.

It is true but very sad that we the Labour politicians were banned by some Indian organisations from attending Navratri celebrations which to me is very painful and does a huge deal of damage to the standing of the party. I fully understand the hurt and the pain the Indian community feels.

To this end, I welcome Jeremy Corbyn’s recent letter offering to meet members across the Indian community and hear their views. This will be a good start but it is imperative that the party also engages positively with the Indian diplomatic service and the Indian government; meets with British-Indian elected representatives to address the way forward to restore relations with the Indian community and see how best the party can genuinely engage with&nbsp;British- Indians and other communities to avoid similar disasters in the future.

In an exclusive interview with WION, Indian-origin London assembly member Navin Shah spoke about his letter to London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Home Secretary of Britain Priti Patel to ban anti-India protests planned on Diwali in London.

In an exclusive interview with WION, Indian-origin London assembly member Navin Shah spoke about his letter to London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Home Secretary of Britain Priti Patel to ban anti-India protests planned on Diwali in London. WION: You wrote a letter to London Mayor Sadiq Khan about the upcoming protest march. Are you happy with the response that you have received? Navin Shah: I am pleased that the Mayor of London has given a very comprehensive response to my letter in which he has strongly condemned the demonstrations planned on Diwali. He has reassured me that the metropolitan police will have a robust policing plan to ensure that violence and the mayhem that took place on India's Independence Day outside the Indian High Commission is not repeated again. The Mayor in the letter has also confirmed the Indian community's rich contribution towards London's success as a world city. It is further reassuring that the Mayor is concerned about the divisions that such protests can create and he has copied my letter to the Metropolitan Commissioner as well as the Home Secretary to see whether they are prepared to ban the demonstration planned on Diwali day. WION: The Indian High Commission has witnessed two violent protests already. What do you make of the action the British government has taken so far? Navin Shah: The ugly and violent incidents that took place outside the India High Commission is certainly not acceptable in any civilised society. There is no excuse for such behaviour in any community and therefore the wide condemnations of those incidents is the right thing. In my view, the metropolitan police could have done better but I am pretty sure the lessons have been learnt and if the demonstrations go ahead on Diwali, I expect the metropolitan police to be prepared to deal with any behaviour which is unruly and brings about public disorder. It is the reason why in addition to writing to the Mayor of London, I have also written to the commissioner of metropolitan police to make sure there is no repeat of such incidents that had taken place outside the Indian High Commission. WION: Is the British government doing enough to address India's concerns about the protests? Navin Shah: I appreciate the way the Indian government is concerned about the situation with regard to the situation in Kashmir. I truly believe that UK government or UK politicians should not interfere with the internal affairs of third countries. Those countries should be left to determine on how matters like these should be resolved in a right and responsible way espeically when it involves complex matters like Kashmir. WION: Should foreign governments and politicians be interfering with India’s constitutional matters such as removal of the special status of Kashmir? Navin Shah: I am of the view that foreign governments and politicians should not be interfering in what is clearly India's constitutional matter. India should be left alone to determine what it wants to do in terms of such constitutional matters, they tend to be complex and let India deal with that instead of foreign government or politicians. WION: What actions do you expect after raising your concerns? Navin Shah: Manning of demonstrations is entirely the responsibility of the Home Secretary and that is why I have written to honourable Priti Patel to ban the planned demonstrations at the earliest opportunity. This is the right thing to do. I hope the Home Secretary, the government and the commissioner of police will listen to me, will listen to the community at large and do the right thing. And let us hope that we will have a happy, peaceful and the kind of Diwali we always expect, appreciate and demand. WION: The leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, has taken a tough stand against the Indian government on Kashmir. Do you agree with your party's position? Navin Shah: I am appalled that the accepted protocol of not interfering in the internal affairs of a third country was dumped by the Labour Party at the conference and an ill-conceived, partisan motion was allowed to go through. This demonstrates my party’s astounding insensitivity and failure to scrutinise the motion before accepting it for debate. The debate was unbalanced and went unchecked - for example one of the speakers supporting the motion made deplorable comments about the Indian army raping women; comparing Modi with Hitler and allegations of 10,000 women being gangraped. I wonder what efforts were made to check the authenticity of such statements! Given the partisan and ill-conceived position taken by the Labour Party, it is no wonder that the Indian community and community organisations are fuming across the nation. Diplomatic relations with India are in tatters and divisions and conflict have been created within diverse communities. REVISED TWEET: Concerned re #Kashmir Rally planned on #Diwali day & resultant disorder+deep offence 2 #Hindu community. Written to @MayorofLondon to help stop the Rally. Glad Mayor condemns the protest & approached @metpoliceuk Commissioner & @patel4witham to ban the Rally. pic.twitter.com/KuuXLqHcxu — Navin Shah AM (@NavinShah2016) October 19, 2019 × All our hard work of community cohesion and credibility is being challenged due to partisan politics and is seen as an anti-India stance taken by the Labour Party through the disastrous motion on Kashmir. It is true but very sad that we the Labour politicians were banned by some Indian organisations from attending Navratri celebrations which to me is very painful and does a huge deal of damage to the standing of the party. I fully understand the hurt and the pain the Indian community feels. To this end, I welcome Jeremy Corbyn’s recent letter offering to meet members across the Indian community and hear their views. This will be a good start but it is imperative that the party also engages positively with the Indian diplomatic service and the Indian government; meets with British-Indian elected representatives to address the way forward to restore relations with the Indian community and see how best the party can genuinely engage with British- Indians and other communities to avoid similar disasters in the future.

Written to London Mayor to ensure violence outside Indian High Commission is not repeated on Diwali: London assembly member Navin Shah to WION

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'Situation in UK is not out of control,' says member of London Assembly Navin Shah stranded in India

Written to London Mayor to ensure violence outside Indian High Commission is not repeated on Diwali: London assembly member Navin Shah to WION