ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has strongly condemned the arrest of noted human rights activist Khurram Parvez by Indian armed forces in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Islamabad urged the international community to hold India accountable for systematic clampdown against human rights organizations and activists for undertaking their duty.
A statement issued by Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar stated arbitrary arrests of human rights activists on orchestrated charges by Indian occupation forces are clear evidence of India’s state-terrorism and trampling of fundamental human rights in occupied Kashmir.
It added that the reprehensible unwarranted searches by the Indian National Investigation Agency at the offices and residences of Kashmiri activists have also been condemned by international human rights organisations.
“The world is aware that it has become increasingly difficult for human rights organizations and activists to continue their work in India and occupied Kashmir due to incessant witch hunt by the Hindutva driven RSS-BJP combine over unfounded and motivated allegations,” it said, adding that the Amnesty International had to shut all its operations in India in September 2020 when its bank accounts were frozen by India in an act of reprisal because of their independent reporting on the IIOJK.
MOFA spokesperson mentioned that the UN human rights machinery, independent NGOs, and global media have regularly reported on and expressed concerns over increasing intimidation, harassment, and reprisal attacks by Indian occupation forces against Kashmiri human rights defenders, journalists, and civil society actors since 5th August 2019.
Parvez’s arrest by the Indian authorities has evoked sharp criticism while a social media campaign for his release has also been launched.
On Tuesday, activist organizations including the United Nations have criticized the arrest of the acclaimed human rights activists. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor termed New Delhi’s move as ‘disturbing’. “He’s not a terrorist, he’s a human rights defender,” she wrote in a tweet.
India’s top investigation agency has arrested prominent Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez under a draconian terror law following a day-long raid at his office and residence in Indian-administered Kashmir.