Delhi Court Remands Kashmiri Journalist Irfan Mehraj To NIA Custody For 10 Days In UAPA Case

A Delhi Court on Wednesday remanded Kashmiri journalist Irfan Mehraj to NIA custody for 10 days in a case registered under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. 

Mehraj was arrested by the probe agency on Monday from Srinagar and was produced before a special NIA judge of Patiala House Courts in the national capital. The central agency sought 12 days custody to question Mehraj.

Editors Guild of India has condemned the journalist's arrest. "Irfan Mehraj's arrest continues a trend in Kashmir of security forces arresting journalists because of their critical reporting of the establishment. These include journalists Aasif Sultan, Sajad Gul, and Fahad Shah. The space for media freedom has progressively eroded in Kashmir," the Guild said in a statement on Wednesday. 

Valley-based Journalist Federation of Kashmir in a statement said "his arrest seems to be another tactic of intimidating journalists in Kashmir who have always worked under perilous conditions." 

Amnesty International has also called for immediate release of the journalist. Aakar Patel, chair of board at Amnesty International India, said: “The arrest of Kashmiri journalist Irfan Mehraj under terror charges is a travesty. The arrest is yet another instance of the long-drawn repression of human rights and the crackdown on media freedoms and civil society in the region of Jammu and Kashmir. The stifling of the rights to freedom of expression and association continue unabated in Kashmir."

However, the NIA in a statement on Mehraj's arrest said, "Following comprehensive investigations into the NGO Terror funding case registered in October 2020, the National Investigation Agency arrested Irfan Mehraj from Srinagar (J&K) yesterday (20.03.2023). Irfan Mehraj was a close associate of Khurram Parvez and was working with his organization, Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies (JKCCS). Investigation revealed that the JKCCS was funding terror activities in the valley and had also been in propagation of secessionist agenda in the Valley under the garb of protection of human rights."

Mehraj was a researcher with the JKCCS till March 2022. Parvez was the coordinator of the rights group and has been accused by the NIA of providing "material support" to protestors in Kashmir during the 2016 agitation. "Khurram Parvez in the guise of human rights activities, was part of larger conspiracy wherein he recruited Muneer Ahmad Kataria as Over Ground Worker (OGW) of LeT," the NIA has claimed in the chargesheet against him.  

However, Mehraj has been arrested in a different case which seems particularly focused on activities of NGOs in valley. NIA has said that involvement of some valley-based NGOs, Trusts and Societies "in funding of terror related activities is being probed in this case".

"Some NGOs, both registered as well as un-registered, have come to notice collecting funds domestically and abroad under the cover of doing charity and various welfare activities, including Public Health, Education etc. But some of these organisations have developed links with proscribed terrorist organizations, such as Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) etc," the NIA claimed.