NEW DELHI (AP) — A prominent Kashmiri human rights activist and a renowned journalist have been released on bail after years of imprisonment on allegations of financing terrorism in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.
Rights activist Khurram Parvez and independent journalist Irfan Mehraj were arrested in 2021 and 2023 respectively, under India's terror laws. Despite their release from a New Delhi jail late Wednesday, both remain under tight court-imposed restrictions as the country’s federal counterterror agency seeks to reverse the ruling.
The Indian government has increasingly cracked down against rights activists, journalists and dissidents in Kashmir under stringent anti-terror laws, particularly after August 2019, when India scrapped the region’s special status.
Last week, a lower court in India allowed the two men to be released on bail, but India’s National Investigation Agency appealed the decision. The Delhi High Court refused on Tuesday to suspend the release order but imposed tougher restrictions on their movements and activities while it hears the agency’s appeal.
International human rights groups, including the United Nations’ human rights body, have consistently sought their release, saying that they were jailed for their work.
Parvez has long been associated with noted rights group the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, or JKCCS, where Mehraj assisted as a researcher. The National Investigation Agency alleges the two used the group to fund militant-linked activities and promoted a separatist agenda. The two deny the allegations against them.
The JKCCS has released reports about what it calls the endemic use of torture by some of the hundreds of thousands of Indian troops in Kashmir, highlighting their expansive powers granted that have led to a culture of impunity and widespread rights abuses.
Following their release, the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organization Against Torture said in a statement the two men were arrested on “trumped-up charges.” They also called on Indian authorities to drop all charges against them “as they are part of politically motivated proceedings aimed at discrediting their legitimate work and the JKCCS.”
The case proceedings against the two will continue in the coming weeks.
The disputed Kashmir region has suffered decades-long conflict with both India and Pakistan claiming the Himalayan region in its entirety. Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989, with many Muslim Kashmiris supporting their goal of either uniting the territory under Pakistani rule or becoming an independent country.
FILE- Khurram Parvez, a prominent human rights activist, left, speaks with human rights lawyer Parvez Imroz inside the office of of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Aug. 25, 2020. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — A young man in Pakistan’s capital lost both legs in a road accident five years ago, but he refused to let that define his future.
Today, 28-year-old Hamza Ali delivers meals across Islamabad, riding a modified motorcycle fitted with hand-operated controls.
Ali appeared cheerful under the scorching sun as he told The Associated Press that he had worked for foodpanda, a delivery platform, before the accident. Then a bus he was riding collided with a truck.
“After that accident, the first six months of my life were extremely difficult,” he said. “Then I told myself, ‘Ali, you have to do something on your own.’”
After nearly three years of job hunting in his hometown of Multan, where employers turned him away because of his disability, Ali moved to Islamabad in 2023 on a friend’s advice that the capital’s wider roads make it easier to ride a modified motorcycle.
Using his savings, he adapted his bike and asked foodpanda to reactivate his rider account. The company asked one question: whether he was confident he could do the job. He said yes.
Since returning to work, he has become one of the top-performing delivery riders, according to colleagues.
Ali rejects the sympathy often directed toward people with disabilities.
“I never ask for money. I can earn my own living,” he said. “People just think that because you are disabled, you are no good.” He said his greatest source of strength has been his mother, who encouraged him to focus on what remained possible.
Millions of Pakistanis live with disabilities and often face barriers to employment, mobility and social inclusion. While a 2023 national census reported that 3.1% of the population has a disability, human rights advocates say the true figure is likely much higher.
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Hamza Ali, 28, who lost both legs in a road accident, moves down a flight of stairs after delivering food in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Hamza Ali, 28, who lost both legs in a road accident, rides to deliver a meal order to a customer in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Hamza Ali, 28, who lost both legs in a road accident, attends a computer training class in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Hamza Ali, 28, who lost both legs in a road accident, eats a meal with his cousin, Mohammad Aftab, in his room in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Hamza Ali, 28, who lost both legs in a road accident, spends time with his hostel mates, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Hamza Ali, 28, who lost both legs in a road accident, moves up a flight of stairs to deliver food to a customer in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Hamza Ali, 28, who lost both legs in a road accident, delivers a meal order in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Hamza Ali, 28, who lost both legs in a road accident, navigates through parked cars after collecting a meal order from a food outlet for delivery in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Hamza Ali, 28, who lost both legs in a road accident, leaves after collecting a meal order for delivery in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Hamza Ali, 28, who lost both legs in a road accident, collects a meal order from a food outlet to deliver to a customer in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Hamza Ali, 28, who lost both legs in a road accident, uses a mobile app to communicate with a customer for a food delivery order in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Hamza Ali, 28, who lost both legs in a road accident, speaks with a colleague as he leaves for a delivery order in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Hamza Ali, 28, who lost both legs in a road accident, leaves an office of foodpanda, a delivery platform, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Hamza Ali, 28, who lost both legs in a road accident, leaves for work, with his roommates helping him with the gate in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Hamza Ali, 28, who lost both legs in a road accident, rests before leaving for work in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Hamza Ali, 28, who lost both legs in a road accident, prays before leaving for work in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
