Pakistan on Tuesday condemned the move by Indian authorities to designate as “unlawful associations” a number of political parties operating in India-occupied Kashmir.
Pakistan denounces the Indian authorities’ decision to designate the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Freedom League (JKPFL) and four factions of the JKPL as “unlawful associations,” according to a statement released by the Foreign Office.
It also condemned the decision to “extend the ban on the Mohd. Yasin Malik faction of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) for a further five years.”
According to Times of India, the India Home Ministry last week deemed the JKLF’s Yasin Malik faction a “unlawful association” and the JKPFL a five-year ban group “for abetting secession.”
According to the report, the ministry also designated four JKPL factions as “unlawful associations” since they were allegedly involved in spreading terror in the area. These factions include Mukhtar Ahmed Waza, Bashir Ahmad Tota, Ghulam Mohammad Khan, and Aziz Sheikh, who is led by Yaqoob Sheikh.
The Hindu claims that the decision was made just hours before the lower house of the Indian parliament, the Lok Sabha, election dates were revealed. The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) was used to justify the action.
The FO said in a statement today that 14 political organizations “have become outlawed in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)” as a result of the new notifications. It further stated, “These parties’ affiliates are also subject to persecution.”
The statement mentioned that Malik, the leader of the JKLF, had been recommended for the death penalty before receiving a life sentence in 2022.
The FO argued, “Yet, as stated in the pertinent UN Security Council resolutions, such oppressive tactics cannot suppress the Kashmiri people’s aspirations for [the] realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination.”
It further stated that “India’s continuous campaign to crush dissent in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) violates international humanitarian law, human rights treaties, and democratic norms.”
The FO urged the Indian government to enact the UNSC resolutions on India-occupied Kashmir, eliminate the restrictions on the parties that are outlawed, and free all political prisoners, including Malik.
The FO had denounced India’s move to designate the Tehreek-i-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir (TeH) as a five-year “unlawful association” earlier this year.
A few days prior, India had declared the Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarat Alam group) to be a “unlawful association” and banned it as well.
