Pakistan has strongly condemned the recent decision by the Delhi High Court to uphold the Indian decision to proscribe several political parties, advocating the rights of the Kashmiri people.

At her weekly media briefing in Islamabad today, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said banning of indigenous political parties is part of India's relentless campaign to subjugate the Kashmiri people, stifle dissent, and consolidate its occupation of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

She said parties that advocate the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir are being silenced under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, a law that has increasingly been used as a tool for repression of the Kashmiri people.

The Spokesperson said Indian judiciary's role in legitimizing these actions follows recent decisions sanctioning the suppression of legitimate political voices in Jammu and Kashmir.

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said last year, the Indian Supreme Court upheld the illegal and unilateral acts of 2019 in IIOJK.

She said we urge India to remove the ban on all political parties illegally outlawed in IIOJK, respect the rights and freedoms of the Kashmiri people, release all political prisoners and human rights defenders, and faithfully implement the UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.

Replying to a question, the Spokesperson said Kashmiri brothers and sisters are under the Indian subjugation for the last several decades. Pakistan has always stood for the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and their right to live in freedom and dignity.

Replying to another question, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan believes that the future of South Asia lies in peace and the road to peace goes through a peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. She said Pakistan believes that it is responsibility of the Indian authorities to develop environment for dialogue in the region.

Turning to continued Israeli aggression on Palestinians, she said Pakistan strongly condemns the airstrikes by Israeli occupation forces on the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone in Khan Yunis, Gaza on 10 September 2024, which claimed the lives of 40 civilians.