India arrests Kashmiri activist Khurram Parvez

Criticism from rights groups as he is accused of funding terrorism

Campaigner Khurram Parvez, 46, has been in jail since 2021. Twitter/ @KhurramParvez

India's anti-terror agency has arrested an activist from the disputed Kashmir region, leading to criticism from rights groups.

Khurram Parvez, 46, was already in jail when he was formally arrested by the National Investigation Agency on Wednesday on a charge of funding terrorism.

The programme co-ordinator with Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, a non-profit organisation in Kashmir, has been in prison since November 2021 over charges of supplying sensitive military information to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group.

His arrest comes two days after the NIA detained his close associate Irfan Mehraj, a journalist from Srinagar.

Mr Mehraj was arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, which gives police powers to hold suspects, question them and search properties without judicial mandate. Under the act, police can jail people for six months without bail, and without any charges being filed against them.

“Investigation revealed that the JKCCS was funding terror activities in the [Kashmir] valley and had also been in the propagation of a secessionist agenda in the valley under the garb of protection of human rights,” the NIA said.

“NGOs, both registered as well as unregistered, have come to notice collecting funds domestically and abroad under the cover of doing charity and various welfare … but some of these organisations have developed links with proscribed terrorist organisations, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen.”

The arrests of Mr Parvez and Mr Mehraj led to angry comments on social media.

“I stand with Khurram Parvez. I stand with Irfan Mehraj. In solidarity,” author Angana P Chaterrji wrote on Twitter.

Anwar Ali, a social activist, tweeted: “The crackdown by the state on Kashmiri journalists and activists must be seen as a concerted effort to suppress any and every dissenting voice that dares."

The Press Club of India said it opposed the use of the act for arresting journalists and activists.

“The misuse of this draconian law by NIA in randomly arresting Irfan Mehraj, a journalist from Kashmir, ominously points towards a violation of freedom of speech and expression," it said. "We demand his immediate release.”

Six journalists have been jailed under the act, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

Four of them are from Kashmir, where militants have been fighting against Indian rule for more than three decades. They include Aasif Sultan, who has been in prison for more than four years.