ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has strongly condemned the arrest of human rights activist Khurram Parvez in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

The Foreign Office, in a statement on Tuesday, said the arbitrary arrests of human rights activists on orchestrated charges by Indian occupation forces is clear evidence of New Delhi’s state-terrorism and trampling of fundamental human rights in IIOJK. The reprehensible unwarranted searches by Indian National Investigation Agency at the offices and residence of Khurram Parvez have also been condemned by international human rights activists and organizations.

The Foreign Office said the world is aware that it has become increasingly difficult for human rights organizations and activists to continue their work in India and IIOJK due to incessant witch hunt by the Hindutva driven RSS- BJP combine over unfounded and motivated allegations. It said the Amnesty International had to shut all its operations in India last year when its bank accounts were frozen by India in an act of reprisal because of their independent reporting on IIOJK.

The UN human rights machinery, independent NGOs and global media have regularly reported on and expressed concerns over increasing intimidation, harassment and reprisal attacks by Indian occupation forces against Kashmiri human rights defenders, journalists and civil society actors since 5 August 2019.

The Foreign Office called on the international community to hold India accountable for continued clamp down against human rights organizations and activists for undertaking their duty to expose gross and systematic human rights violations of Kashmiris in IIOJK, and the minorities, especially Muslims, in India.