Kashmir is… Whose?
25th August 2026
August 14 is celebrated each year as Pakistan’s Independence Day. Last week the Lord Mayor of the English city of Birmingham made remarks during an observance of the occasion which have since caused controversy.
The Lord Mayor of Birmingham is named Zaker Choudhry, which is not surprising, given the ethnic makeup of the city. Native white Britons are in the minority, and “Asians” — which means mostly Pakistani Muslims — make up a third of the population of Birmingham.
Zaker Choudhry was elected to his office back in the spring, and he seems to be representing his constituents effectively, because the remarks that got him in trouble last week were: “Our forefathers fought for our country. Kashmir is ours, Pakistan is ours, and [the] army is ours as well.”