Pakistan condemns ban on Kashmiri party

Pakistan on Thursday condemned the decision of the Indian occupation authorities to declare Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarrat Alam faction) [MLJK-MA], as an “unlawful association”, for a period of five years.

The party is led by a prominent Kashmiri leader Masarrat Alam Bhatt, who remains imprisoned for a period exceeding 20 years, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement.

The MLJK-MA is the fifth Kashmiri party banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front, Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir, Dukhtaraan-e-Millat, and Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party have already been outlawed.

The FO spokesperson said the leadership was being relentlessly persecuted through prolonged detention and confiscation of properties. The Office of All Parties Hurriyat Conference in Srinagar was also sealed, early this year, she added.

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"Banning of the political parties and persecution of their leadership manifests a desire to stifle dissent in sheer disregard of democratic norms and international human rights and humanitarian law," the spokesperson remarked.

Mumtaz said the people of Jammu and Kashmir had consistently rejected India’s harsh tactics aimed at consolidating its occupation. These actions blatantly violate foundational principles of the United Nations Charter, which affirm fundamental rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir including the right to self-determination, she added.

"India should immediately lift the curbs on the banned political parties in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK); release all the political prisoners and dissenters; and implement the UN Security Councils' resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir," the spokesperson maintained.