ISLAMABAD, Oct 9: Pakistan condemned on Thursday the arrest of two Kashmiri separatist leaders in the Indian-administered zone of the disputed Himalayan region.

Musrat Alam, chief of the pro-Pakistan political party Muslim League, was arrested in occupied Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar on Monday, while the National Front’s Naeem Ahmed Khan was detained early September.

Pakistan “calls upon the international community to take note of this latest Indian violation of the fundamental rights of the Kashmiris,” a foreign ministry statement said.

“Such repressive acts of the Indian government fly in the face of Indian claims of being the world’s largest democracy, while having no room for political dissent and respect for the principles it keeps boasting about.”

The statement listed eight other Kashmiri leaders allegedly in “illegal custody” in Indian Kashmir, some for the past two years.

Alam’s Muslim League group wants Kashmir to merge with Pakistan.

Since their independence in 1947, Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, both claiming the territory in full.

New Delhi accuses Pakistan of sending armed militants into occupied Kashmir to foment unrest. Islamabad denies the charge.

More than 39,500 people have died in occupied Kashmir since an anti-Indian rebellion erupted in 1989, according to Indian official figures.

Separatists and Pakistan put the toll between 80,000 and 100,000.—AFP