THE father of kidnapped Blackburn student Paul Wells, stepped out in Pendle to keep alive awareness of the Kashmir hostages.

Bob Wells joined 20 supporters from Pendle council's Kashmir Group for a three hour sponsored walk around the Nelson area which it is hoped will raise around £500 for the Hostages in Kashmir Campaign.

They were addressed and encouraged before the start by the mayor of Pendle, Coun Colin Waite, who said everything should be done to keep the hostage situation in the public eye. The walk came just three years after photography student, Paul and other visitors were taken hostage by Kashmiri militants.

At Pendle's Kashmir Awareness Week in May, Mr Wells came close to publicly accepting that Paul may now be dead. Yesterday, Mr Wells made it clear there were still many questions to be answered both on the hostage situation and about events in the troubled region.

He said: "After three years, it is easy for the issues to slip to the back of people's minds.

"We need to continue the campaign to uncover the reasons why innocent people have been punished and find the real answers to what has happened."

"We want to know what the British and Indian Governments and the international community are doing, because we are not satisfied they are doing enough."

Mr Wells said anything which kept the issue in the public eye, added to the pressure on those who could provide answers in Kashmir.

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