Internationalist approach at H.B.C.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by cashman

Think they may have stared that already Gynn,was down back end of last week one afternoon n they were closed.lancsdave will probably know what day.

The toilets shut, that surely can't be so, if it had been the case surely Jones would have been on blaming the opposition councillors

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Tealeaf

I propose Cashy to be the International Peace Envoy for HBC.

Sorry, just been informed, as this internationally important, high-profile position is to be jointly co-funded by Lancashire County Coucil, and Hyndburn Borough Council, applicants are being sought from the B.M.E. (black, and minority ethnic) community only.

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/f...ist-57146.html

Sorry Cashy.

[Wynonie Harris]

Good morning, Councillor Dawson. Nice to see you peeking on this thread again. Certainly taking an interest in it, aren't you?

Now would you like to give us a comment on this issue?

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Tealeaf

I propose Cashy to be the International Peace Envoy for HBC.

Ta fer the thought,but afraid it just aint possible,would interfere wi me many other tasks fer this community.

[Wynonie Harris]

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris

Good morning, Councillor Dawson. Nice to see you peeking on this thread again. Certainly taking an interest in it, aren't you?

Now would you like to give us a comment on this issue?

Well, blow me down, he's gone again without saying anything!

Local councillors do seem very reluctant to comment on this issue.

Funny that...I wonder why?

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by cashman

Think they may have stared that already Gynn,was down back end of last week one afternoon n they were closed.lancsdave will probably know what day.

May have been Thursday. They closed for an hour duie to one of the town's complete morons smashing one of the toilets to bits

[Gayle]

I understand why the resolution was made - it was so that ultimately they can lobby Government to make a stand on Kashmiri. This is something that couldn't be done without a ground swell of support.

BUT, here's where I have the problem. This is a bit like signing a petition without checking what you're signing for - well, in fact it's precisely that except we haven't even been asked if we want to sign it. This resolution has been made by the council so that it can add weight to lobbying the government.

I don't know enough about this issue to personally lobby government. I don't know both sides of the conflict so for all I know I might side with the other side. I certainly don't think there would have been a full debate about it at Council (and there shouldn't have been) so basically the councillors have agreed to this in our name.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Gayle

I understand why the resolution was made - it was so that ultimately they can lobby Government to make a stand on Kashmiri. This is something that couldn't be done without a ground swell of support.

BUT, here's where I have the problem. This is a bit like signing a petition without checking what you're signing for - well, in fact it's precisely that except we haven't even been asked if we want to sign it. This resolution has been made by the council so that it can add weight to lobbying the government.

I don't know enough about this issue to personally lobby government. I don't know both sides of the conflict so for all I know I might side with the other side. I certainly don't think there would have been a full debate about it at Council (and there shouldn't have been) so basically the councillors have agreed to this in our name.

If thats correct then i can't understand what "RIGHT" these councillors can agree to summat in our name, yet no-one i know knew sod all about it.

[Wynonie Harris]

Originally Posted by Gayle

I understand why the resolution was made - it was so that ultimately they can lobby Government to make a stand on Kashmiri. This is something that couldn't be done without a ground swell of support.

...and this has exactly what to do with the issues and problems faced by the citizens of Hyndburn?

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris

...and this has exactly what to do with the issues and problems faced by the citizens of Hyndburn?

I'm sure most folks in Hyndburn don't see the job of their local council as being that to lobby anyone on international issues. Whatever the rights and wrongs are, in any particular case.

If we are mistaken, and H.B.C. are now fully intending to be a big player on the political world stage, perhaps we can look forward to them also condemning Pakistan's appalling record on human rights abuses, at the next meeting of the full council?

Originally Posted by garinda

As I say, now H.B.C. has involved itself in international politics, I look foward to them also condemning the truly horrific human rights abuses, carried out daily in Pakistan, as well as, to quote Pakistan's Daily Times newspaper, the 'endemic corruption in political and official circles', which I'm sure H.B.C. will be similarly keen to tackle, and hopefully sort out for them.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

Pakistan Human Rights | Amnesty International USA

We'll just have to wait, and see.

[Wynonie Harris]

Originally Posted by garinda

If we are mistaken, and H.B.C. are now fully intending to be a big player on the political world stage, perhaps we can look forward to them also condemning Pakistan's appalling record on human rights abuses, at the next meeting of the full council?

Well, Councillor Dawson's here, yet again, so perhaps he'll tell us.

Ssshhh...

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by garinda

I'm sure most folks in Hyndburn don't see the job of their local council as being that to lobby anyone on international issues. Whatever the rights and wrongs are, in any particular case.

I'm not saying that the Council will be doing the lobbying. Just saying that those doing the lobbying can now claim to have the local council supporting them to add weight to their action.

[garinda]

It does seem rather a contentious cause, for our now internationalist local borough council, to have aligned itself with.




'In a full meeting of Hyndburn Borough Council the resolution was moved by Mr. Allah Dad, a member of the Diaspora of Kashmiri origin from the conservative group.'

'The motion supported the Right of Self Determination of the people of Jammu Kashmir.'

UK City Council supports ‘Kashmiris' Right to Self determination’ | GroundReport


'The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), founded by Amanullah Khan and Maqbool Bhat is a Kashmiri nationalist organization founded in Birmingham, UK on May 29, 1977. From then until 1994 it was an active terrorist organization with branches in several cities and towns of the UK.'

Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Terrorist Groups

'The U.S. State Department lists three Islamist groups active in Kashmir as foreign terrorist organizations: Harakat ul-Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Lashkar-e-Taiba. The first group has been listed for years, and the other two were added after the December 2001 Indian parliament attack. All three groups have attracted Pakistani members as well as Afghan and Arab veterans who fought the 1980s Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

• Harakat ul-Mujahideen (HUM) was established in the mid-1980s. Based first in Pakistan and then in Afghanistan, it has several hundred armed supporters in Pakistan and Kashmir. The group is responsible for the December 1999 hijacking of an Indian airliner and numerous attacks on Indian troops and civilians in Kashmir.Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Harakat members have participated in insurgent and terrorist operations in Myanmar, Tajikistan, and Bosnia.
• Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) was founded in 2000 by Maulana Masood Azhar, a Pakistani cleric. The group seeks to incorporate Kashmir into the state of Pakistan and has openly declared war on the United States. JEM has carried out attacks on Indian targets, the Pakistani government, and various sectarian minority groups within Pakistan. Acts of terrorism attributed to the group include the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament and a series of assaults in 2002 on Christian sites in Pakistan. The Pakistani government has also implicated JEM for the two assassination attempts on former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. According to the U.S. State Department, the group has at least several hundred armed supporters as well as tens of thousands of followers.
• Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), active since 1993, was formed as the military wing of the well-funded Pakistani Islamist organization Markaz-ad- Dawa-wal-Irshad. The group, one of the largest and most proficient of the Kashmir-based terrorist groups, has claimed responsibility for a number of high-profile attacks on Indian targets in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as within India. India says that over the last several years the group has split into two factions, al-Mansurin and al-Nasirin. There is wide speculation thatLeT was responsible for the July 11, 2006 string of bombings on Mumbai's commuter railroad, though a spokesman for the group denied any involvement. The Indian government alleges that LeTwas responsible for coordinating the 2008 Mumbai attacks.'
• Kashmir Militant Extremists - Council on Foreign Relations

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Gayle

I'm not saying that the Council will be doing the lobbying. Just saying that those doing the lobbying can now claim to have the local council supporting them to add weight to their action.

They decided to add their weight to the lobbyists' cause.

Firstly by inviting them to a meeting of the full council, and secondly, by then publicly stating they've now 'adopted a resolution supporting the Kashmiri peoples' right to self-determination'.

An abundance of ever increasing closing businesses in the borough, drunks being allowed to cause mayhem, in supposedly alcohol free zones, cuts in jobs and services, a reported massive increase in next year's council tax bills.

I'm damned sure where the majority of residents will think a local council's priorities would be better focused.

Locally, in the actual borough, that they are supposed to be representing, and working for.

Not adopting resolutions, for those lobbying for contentious international causes.

[Less]

The really serious question that arises from this is, will we be able to get our cardigans at wholesale prices or will that be a perk held onto by our elected representatives?