Pakistan protests India’s ban on Kashmiri parties

Pakistan protests India's ban on Kashmiri parties

Pakistan criticized the Indian government’s move on Tuesday to designate the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Freedom League and its four factions as “unlawful associations.”

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokeswoman for the Foreign Office, stated in a news release that it also condemned the decision to keep the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (Yasin Malik group) banned for an additional five years.

The spokesman went on to say that India’s continuous attempt to stifle dissent in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) violated international humanitarian law, human rights treaties, and democratic standards.

“It is emphasized that the Government of India should lift the restrictions on the outlawed Kashmiri parties; free all political detainees, including Yasin Malik; and execute the UN Security Council resolutions regarding Jammu and Kashmir.”

Fourteen Kashmiri political organizations are now banned in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) as a result of the recent announcements.

Persecution also befalls these parties’ affiliates. The most prominent case was the pursuit of the death penalty for Yasin Malik, who was given a life sentence in 2022.

It was emphasized, “Yet, as enshrined in the pertinent UN Security Council Resolutions, such oppressive tactics cannot suppress the Kashmiri people’s aspirations for realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination.”