NEW DELHI (AP) — A well-known Kashmiri human rights activist and a respected independent journalist have walked free on bail after spending years locked up on allegations that they helped finance terrorism in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir.
Rights activist Khurram Parvez and journalist Irfan Mehraj were taken into custody in 2021 and 2023, respectively, under India’s terrorism laws. Although both men were released from a New Delhi jail late Wednesday, they continue to face strict restrictions imposed by the court while India’s national counterterrorism agency works to overturn the bail ruling.
The Indian government has stepped up its crackdown on rights advocates, journalists, and political dissidents in Kashmir through harsh anti-terrorism legislation, a trend that intensified after August 2019, when India eliminated the region’s special autonomous status.
A lower Indian court granted bail to both men last week, but the National Investigation Agency challenged that decision. On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court declined to block the release order, though it placed stricter limits on the two men’s movements and activities while it considers the agency’s appeal.
International human rights organizations, including the United Nations’ human rights body, have repeatedly called for their freedom, arguing that the two were imprisoned because of their professional work.
Parvez has long been connected to the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, known as JKCCS, a prominent rights organization where Mehraj worked as a researcher. The National Investigation Agency claims the pair exploited the group to channel funds to militant-linked activities and push a separatist agenda. Both men deny those accusations.
The JKCCS has published reports documenting what it describes as the widespread use of torture by some of the hundreds of thousands of Indian soldiers stationed in Kashmir, drawing attention to broad powers granted to those forces that the group says have created a culture of impunity and widespread human rights abuses.
Following their release, the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organization Against Torture issued a joint statement calling the charges against the two men “trumped-up.” The organizations also urged Indian authorities to drop all charges, stating they are “part of politically motivated proceedings aimed at discrediting their legitimate work and the JKCCS.”
Legal proceedings against both men are expected to continue in the weeks ahead.
The Kashmir region has been at the center of a long-running conflict, with both India and Pakistan claiming the Himalayan territory in full. Armed militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting against New Delhi’s authority since 1989, with many Muslim Kashmiris backing efforts to either join Pakistan or establish an independent nation.
