JKLF blasts Indian govt over 'illegal, undemocratic' ban in IoK

JKLF spokesperson Rafique Butt warns India of severe consequences if party's demands are not

ISLAMABAD: The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) on Sunday rejected the ban on the party and called the Indian government’s move undemocratic and illegal.

The Indian government on Saturday imposed a ban on Yasin Malik-led JKLF, a pro-independence group in occupied Kashmir, as part of a crackdown on what it calls “separatist organisations”.

JKLF spokesperson Rafique Butt, while addressing a press conference in Islamabad, said that New Delhi’s allegations against the party were baseless, adding that an illegal crackdown against the party leaders and activists in the occupied valley was underway.

The ban on the party had been challenged in the court and JKLF will raise the issue at every available forum, he further added.



Butt also condemned the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir and demanded that the detained Kashmiri independence leaders including Syed Ali Gillani and Yasin Malik among others be released.

The spokesperson also warned the Indian government of severe consequences if demands were not met.

“JKLF has always condemned incidents like the one happened in Pulwama and the whole world has deplored the Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir,” said the JKLF spokesperson.

"International community helped defuse tensions between India and Pakistan and stopped the threat of a war between the two nuclear-armed nations.

"They [international community] also need to resolve the Kashmir dispute which is critical for the security of the whole region in the same manner," Rafique maintained.

The unrest in the occupied valley remains high following the Pulwama attack that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary personnel on February 14.