Prominent writers, academics, attorneys and activists sought immediate and unconditional release of well-known Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez on Sunday.
Prominent writers, academics, attorneys and activists sought immediate and unconditional release of well-known Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez on Sunday. Mr Parvez was held by the Jammu and Kashmir police when he was catching a flight for Geneva to attend the UN Human Rights Council meeting earlier this week.
Mr Parvez has since been shifted to a jail in frontier Kupwara district after an executive magistrate in Srinagar issued an order against him invoking Sections 107 and 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (pertaining to detention for breach of peace and design to commit a cognizable offence). However, critics alleged that he has been treated unfairly and was falsely charged by the police.
Amnesty International and a host of national and international rights activists, writers and academicians have sought his immediate release. Actions against Mr Parvez “are symptomatic of the escalated repression in Kashmir by institutions of state since July 8,” they said.
Mr Parvez was further described as “a distinguished and courageous human rights defender”. He is expected to be produced before the court on September 21.
In an open letter to civil society, signatories including A.R.J. Mohamed, Amitava Kumar, Teesta Setalvad, Arundhati Roy, Basharat Peer, C.T. Mohanty, Gautam Navlakha, Ghazi Shahnawaz, Gloria Steinem, Harsh Mander, Kavita Krishnan, Manisha Sethi, M. Bacalso, Mridu Rai, Noam Chomsky, Paola Bacchetta, Paramjit K. Khalra, Partha Chatterjee, and Vrinda Grover, have alleged that the rights to freedom of speech and movement and the right to dissent and self-determination are being imperilled in J&K.
“We are gravely concerned by the repeated abrogation of international law and the disregard for India’s constitutional provisions, and by the unceasing targeting of civilians and the continued denial of their civil and political rights”, it said, adding “We urge that the above conditions of collective internment within Kashmir require urgent attention and intervention”.
They have also noted, “with horror”, the killing of more than eighty people, wounding over 11,000, including the attacks on over 100 ambulances, and arrest of over 1,000 people in the Valley during the onging protests. “Pellet cartridges with about 400-500 pellets each have been fired, aimed above the waist, permanently blinding youth at civilian protests. Communication systems have been repeatedly shutdown; mobile Internet and pre-paid calls have been repeatedly banned, post-paid phone lines have been suspended for a number of days, and even newspapers have been shut down for a couple of days,” the letter said.
