SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday booked human rights activist Khurram Parvez under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) for allegedly inciting violence.
Arrested by police on September 15 evening from his house here, Khurram was lodged in the Kupwara sub-jail. However, on Tuesday evening, the principal district and sessions judge ordered the activist’s release, saying his detention was not “in accordance with the law”.
Khurram was then released only to be rearrested outside the jail premises. He was later slapped with the PSA, which has been termed the “lawless law” by Amnesty International. He is now likely to be shifted to Jammu’s Kot Balwal central jail.
Khurram, who is chairperson of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) and programme coordinator of the J&K Coalition of Civil Society, was stopped by immigration authorities at New Delhi airport from travelling to Switzerland to attend the 33rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The government has booked at least 200 people in Kashmir under the PSA after the unrest erupted in the Valley following the July 8 killing of 21-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.
Meanwhile, the Army continued search and combing operations along the Line of Control in Uri and Nowgam sectors, where troops foiled two infiltration bids by 12-17 militants on Wednesday. An official said there had been no fresh gunfight with militants in both the places.
The Army reiterated it didn’t have any information about any casualties suffered by the infiltrators. “I don’t have any information whether any militant has been killed,” an official said.