Pakistan on Thursday condemned the decision of Indian occupation authorities to declare Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarrat Alam faction) [MLJK-MA], as an \u201cunlawful association\u201d, 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.<\/p>\n
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. She said that 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 remarked. \u201cBanning 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,\u201d the spokesperson remarked. She said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir had consistently rejected India\u2019s 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. \u201cIndia 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\u2019 resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan on Thursday condemned the decision of Indian occupation authorities to declare Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarrat Alam faction) [MLJK-MA], as an \u201cunlawful association\u201d, 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336332,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-377281","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national"},"yoast_head":"\n