Kashmiri activist Khurram Parvez and journalist Irfan Mehraj freed on bail

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that Indian authorities have released Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez and journalist Irfan Mehraj on bail after prolonged detention in a case involving alleged “terrorism” financing. Relatives said the two left a New Delhi jail late Wednesday, while India’s National Investigation Agency continues to challenge the bail decision.

Parvez, programme coordinator of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, was arrested in Srinagar in 2021. Mehraj, a freelance journalist who had also worked with the group as a researcher, was arrested in 2023. Both are accused under India’s strict antiterrorism laws of financing terrorism and promoting a secessionist agenda through the rights group. They deny the accusations.

According to Al Jazeera, a lower court granted bail last week, and the Delhi High Court declined on Tuesday to halt their release while the agency’s appeal proceeds. The court added stricter conditions: the men must remain in the capital for their trial arrangements and cannot travel to Kashmir, based on a court document cited by AFP. The case is expected to continue in the coming weeks.

The development matters because Parvez, Mehraj and the JKCCS have been prominent in documenting alleged abuses in Indian-administered Kashmir, including torture, unlawful killings and unmarked graves. International rights organizations and UN experts have previously called for their release, arguing the detentions were linked to their work. Al Jazeera placed the case within a broader post-2019 crackdown alleged by rights groups, after New Delhi revoked the region’s partial autonomy.