Khurram Parvez at risk of being charged with fake terrorism-related crimes: UN envoy

SRINAGAR: Expressing fears that human rights activist Khurram Parvez may be implicated in false terrorism-related cases by the Indian authorities, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor has said that he is not a terrorist.

Earlier today, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) reportedly arrested  Parvez from his house in Jammu and Kashmir.

Parvez, 44, is chairperson of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) and the programme coordinator of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), Indian media reported.

Taking to Twitter, Mary Lawlor said, “I am hearing disturbing reports that Khurram Parvez was arrested today in Kashmir and is at risk of being charged by authorities in India with terrorism-related crimes.”

“He [Khurram Parvez] is not a terrorist, he is a human rights defender,” she added.

It is pertinent to mention here that Parvez was also on similar charges in 2016 a day after he was barred from boarding a flight to attend a UN human rights forum in Geneva. Parvez, however, was released later.