Khurram Parvez, one of Kashmir's best known activists, is head of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, a group of rights organisations working in the region (Facebook/Khurram Parvez)
Rights groups, including the United Nations, have criticised the arrest of a prominent activist in Indian-administered Kashmir on terror funding charges.
Khurram Parvez was arrested late on Monday by India’s federal National Investigation Agency (NIA), an Indian official briefed on the situation told Reuters.
His residence and office were searched and a mobile phone, laptop and books seized, he added.
A spokesperson for the NIA confirmed Parvez’s arrest on Tuesday.
He is being held under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, that allows for detention of up to six months without trial.
His lawyer, Parvez Imroz, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, called Parvez’s arrest “disturbing”.
“He’s not a terrorist, he’s a human rights defender,” she said in a tweet.
Parvez, one of Kashmir’s best known activists, is head of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, a group of rights organisations working in the region.
He was arrested and detained on similar charges in 2016, after being prevented from boarding a flight to attend a UN human rights forum in Geneva. He was eventually released without being convicted of any crime.
The Muslim-majority Kashmir region has been the source of decades of tensions between nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan.
Both countries claim the Himalayan territory in full but rule it in part, and have fought two wars against each other there.
India has long faced allegations of rights abuses in its portion of the territory, charges New Delhi denies.
It tightly controls access to Kashmir for foreign observers, including the UN. (Reuters)
Social activist Rama Kankonkar was left grievously injured after a brutal assault by a gang of six armed men near…
Chhattisgarh now hosts a metapopulation of 250-300 elephants that have moved in from neighbouring Odisha and Jharkhand. While this expansion…
Seven months before elections are held in Assam in March-April 2026, the BJP government in the state approved a regulation…
Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge on Thursday, 18 September, accused the previous BJP government of orchestrating large-scale voter deletions ahead of…
It never stops in India. In this country, the disrespect of women has deep roots. Sometimes, it is visible on…
Azan “has seen everything. He knows his parents are gone. He just doesn’t yet understand how to live without them.”…
This website uses cookies.