The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted bail to prominent Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez in a 2021 'terror funding' case, but he will remain in jail due to a separate case filed in March 2023, according to legal website LiveLaw.

Parvez, 49, was arrested nearly five years ago by India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) on charges of 'terror funding', recruiting rebels in Indian-administered Kashmir, and mobilizing protesters during a civilian uprising. The second case also involves alleged 'terror funding'.

International rights groups have widely condemned Parvez's arrest and prolonged detention. His lawyer, Swati Khanna, expressed hope that a 'positive result' in the second case could lead to his release within a month or two.

Trials in both cases have not yet begun, a point highlighted by rights organizations who argue that the process itself becomes the punishment for political prisoners in India, who wait years behind bars before facing trial. The conviction rate under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) is a mere 5% nationally, dropping to less than 1% in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist regime has faced criticism for persecuting dissent and criminalizing expression in Kashmir, the country's only Muslim-majority region. A political analyst from Srinagar, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that Parvez's arrest 'proved to be the last nail in the coffin of any meaningful rights activism in Kashmir, one of the world's most militarized zones.'

Source: www.aljazeera.com