Srinagar: A coalition of international human rights organizations has called for the immediate release of Kashmiri journalist Irfan Meraj, three years after his arrest by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA).
According to Kashmir Media Service, nearly three dozen human rights groups, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists, said Meraj’s continued detention is based on charges they believe are politically motivated and linked to his work documenting human rights issues in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The organizations said that the case reflects growing pressure on journalists and researchers working on sensitive issues in the territory. The advocacy groups highlighted the detention of Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez, coordinator of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), who has been held since 2021. Investigators previously described Mehaj as an associate of Parvez, a fact that rights organizations say forms part of the basis for the charges against him.
The coalition urged the Indian government to end what they described as reprisals against journalists and human rights defenders in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and to reconsider laws that allow extended detention without trial. They also criticized the Modi-led Indian government for failing to respond to several inquiries previously raised by UN human rights experts regarding alleged violations in the region.
The groups called on the international community to monitor the situation closely and encourage greater protection for journalists and civil society organizations, stating that continued attention from international institutions may be necessary to ensure that press freedom and basic civil liberties are upheld in the territory.
Meraj was arrested in March 2023 during an investigation conducted by India’s National Investigation Agency for uploading posts on brutalities of Indian forces in the territory.
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