The arrest of Kashmiri human rights activist Khur-ram Parvez by the India’s notorious National Investigation Agency (NIA) continues to draw sharp criticism both at home and abroad with global hu-man rights organisations and political parties calling upon India to release him, immediately.
Amnesty International in a tweet said, “The ar-rest of Kashmiri activist Khurram Parvez is yet another example of how anti-terror laws are being misused to criminalise human rights work and stifle dissent in India.
Instead of targeting HRDs, authori-ties should focus on bringing accountability for human rights violations”.
In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kash-mir, Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party in a statement in Srinagar termed his arrest as Modi government’s conspiracy to stifle voice of dissent in the territory.
The DFP spokesman, advo-cate Arshad Iqbal, said that persecution and repri-sals by the Indian occupation authorities against human rights defenders, political activists and repre-sentatives of civil society was an obvious manifesta-tion of the fascist BJP regime’s authoritarian mind-set.
“The Indian occupation authorities’ response to right to freedom of expression and opinion has al-ways been authoritarian in nature”, he said adding that arrests, intimidation, and a vilification cam-paign intended to debase the pro-freedom leadership and discredit the work of Kashmiri rights activists has been hallmark of the Indian government.
Referring to Khuram Parvez’s remarkable role he said that Parvez “is being victimized just for documenting human rights violations and exposing India’s brutal face to the international community that has unfortunately chosen to stay silent on the sufferings of Kashmiri people.”
Jammu and Kashmir Employees Movement General Secretary Junaidul Islam while denouncing the arrest of Khuram Parvez urged international rights bodies to prevail upon India to stop harassing human rights defenders in IIOJK.
Hurriyat AJK leaders at a meeting in Islamabad also condemned the arrest of human rights activist Khurram Parvez by India’s National Investigation Agency in IIOJK. —KMS
