Labour Party leader slams India over attacks on Muslims

A minister in the UK's Shadow Cabinet has slammed India over the violent attacks on Muslims and called on the British government to look into and respond to the "extremely worrying situation".

Jonathan Ashworth, a Labour Party MP from Leicester South a constituency with a prominent Indian-origin electorate in the East Midlands region of England, wrote in a letter last week to foreign secretary and prime ministerial hopeful Jeremy Hunt that many of his constituents had raised concerns that the Indian government was not doing enough on the issue.

"I have been contacted by members of Muslim communities in my Constituency in regard to the on-going violent attacks on Muslims in India," Ashworth wrote in his letter addressed to the senior Cabinet minister in the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

Calling for Hunt to look into and respond over the "serious issue", the shadow minister for health said: "The situation in India is extremely worrying, there has been reports of religiously motivated killings, assaults, riots, discrimination, vandalism and actions restricting the right of individuals to practice their religious beliefs.

"My constituents are concerned that the Indian government is not doing enough to address the on-going attacks on Muslim communities in India."