British-Pakistani Lord Nazir Ahmed jailed for child sex offences

Disgraced former Labour peer Lord Nazir Ahmed has been jailed five-and-a-half years for sexual abuse of two children in the 1970s, UK media reported on Friday.

Ahmed, born in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, has carried out anti-India campaigns. He was found guilty last month by the Sheffield Crown Court of sexual offences against two children. He was found guilty of two counts of attempted rape and one of buggery.

Justice Lavender passed the sentence on Friday. In March 2019, Lord Ahmed was charged with historical sexual offences against two children, two counts of attempted rape, and one count of indecent assault in the early 1970s.

The charges against Ahmed relate to two complainants - a boy and a girl - and to alleged incidents between 1971 and 1974. The indecent assault charge relates to a boy under 14.

He has been an ardent supporter of Khalistani terror groups and a critic of the Indian government's policies.

Though he projected himself as a crusader for Kashmir cause, in reality, he used his position to sexually exploit Kashmiri women.

Nazir Ahmed was born in Pakistan occupied Kashmir but his political roots are in Rotherham, where he grew up and still lives.

He moved to the United Kingdom in 1969 with his family to join his father who was working in steel factories in Rotherham.

After studying at Sheffield Hallam University, he ran a chain of shops in his home town and became a property developer.In 1998, he became one of the first Muslim peers to be appointed to the House of Lords by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair. He resigned from the Labour Party in 2013.

Lord Nazir Ahmed, who calls himself "campaigner for Kashmiris" faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and resigned from the House of Lords in 2020. A House committee had recommended that he should have been expelled.

A group of Kashmiri women in London had launched a Hollywood style #MeToo protest campaign against politicians including Nazir Ahmed and faith healers who are exploiting vulnerable women in the Kashmiri community, the committee report stated.

( With inputs from ANI )

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