The Party originated in a
Free Riaz and Quayyam Campaign to obtain the release of two Kashmiri militants (Mohammed Riaz and Quayyam Raja) belonging to the
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front. The two were imprisoned in 1984 for their role in the kidnapping and killing of Indian diplomat
Ravindra Mhatre in Birmingham. The group was renamed
Justice for Kashmir, then renamed ''People's Justice Party.'' On 18 November 2001, the PJP worked with
Stop the War Coalition and the loosely organized Islamic Network UK to turn out a large crowd for a rally opposing military response to the
11 September attacks. Success peaked in the
2001 United Kingdom general election, when PJP garnered 13% of the votes in the neighborhoods of
Small Heath and
Sparkbrook, and held 5 seats on the Birmingham city council. In July 2002 the PJP suffered a heavy setback when a leading member, Khalid Mahmood (no relationship to MP for Perry Barr,
Khalid Mahmood,) left to join the Labour Party. In 2003 the PJP ran as a "single-issue" party demanding that the British government pressure India in support of Muslims in Kashmir. The party platform was based on an appeal for votes on two fronts: local and international. It promised single-sex schools, changes to housing grants, and improved street lighting beside commitments to campaign for self-determination for Kashmir, the formation of a
Palestinian state. In 2002 the PJP City Council member Mohammed Nazam was accused of taking part in a rowdy demonstration in which eggs were thrown at the visiting
Pakistani High Commissioner. In the wake of the
7 July 2005 London bombings, PJP treasurer Asrar Ahmad complained to the press that "Muslim people" were being blamed for the attacks without "proof." The PJP was also active in the anti-war activity at the time of the American-led campaign against the
Taliban regime in
Afghanistan. The PJP in the
Birmingham City Council was led by
Shaukat Ali Khan. Ali Khan had earlier been a member of the Labour Party, as had other PJP members. These ex-Labour members formed PJP in response to what they felt was a failure by the Labour government in the UK to deal adequately with ongoing
Indian and
Pakistani tensions concerning Kashmir, and what they perceived as a failure to improve the lives of the Kashmiri population in Birmingham. The PJP group leader Shaukat Ali Khan said talks about disbanding the party began when members worked closely with the Liberal Democrats to expose New Labour's postal vote fraud in Aston and Bordesley Green. The founder members were Allah Ditta, Raja Skintaj and Rajasab Ali of Azad Kashmir. The idea of a new party that appealed to the foreign policy concerns of Muslim voters was replicated by the
Respect Party, founded in 2004. ==See also==