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Kashmiri journalist Irfan Mehraj has spent more than 1,100 days in pretrial detention in a Delhi prison, arrested under India\u2019s anti-terror law\u2013UAPA\u2013 allegedly for work he did years earlier at a human rights organisation. While the courts deliberate, his wife, his ailing father, and his grieving mother keep vigil across 800 kilometres, waiting for a man the law has not yet tried.<\/p>\n
Bisma was still adrift in the early warmth of a marriage only a few months old when, on 20 March 2023, a quick phone call tore apart the soft glow of her emotions. Her brother-in-law had called with the worst possible news: Officers from the National Investigation Agency (NIA), one of India\u2019s federal investigating agencies, had arrested her husband, Irfan Mehraj.<\/p>\n
Irfan, an award-winning journalist, was taken into custody at Ram Munshi Bagh police station in Kashmir\u2019s capital Srinagar under the controversial Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). After being held overnight at the station, he was transferred to Delhi \u2014 some 800 kilometres from his home \u2014 and presented before a court before being jailed.<\/p>\n
Three years on, Irfan languishes in a prison in New Delhi while Bisma and his family members reminisce about what they call \u201cthe dark day\u201d of their lives back home in Kashmir. Spring, otherwise a harbinger of hope, has lost its meaning for them, turning ominous instead.<\/p>\n
And this summer, Bisma is preparing for yet another Eid-ul-Azha\u2013the festival that marks the culmination of the annual Hajj pilgrimage\u2013without Irfan. She tries to uphold tradition: she buys groceries, new clothes, and prepares meals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIrfan is a hopeful person, and I try to live up to his expectations. I chose the colors of his choice,\u201d says Bisma, who married Irfan in September 2022, just six months before his arrest separated them.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I have become a different person with my exposure to a surreal situation,\u201d Bisma says. It seems his incarceration has become hers as well.<\/p>\n
Irfan\u2019s pretrial detention has stretched well beyond what any family should have to endure. Life for them has been reduced to parsing stacks of legal documents dense with complicated legalese, grappling with serious charges, and hoping for bail at every court hearing over the past three years.<\/p>\n
WHO IS IRFAN MEHRAJ<\/p>\n
Born in 1990 at the height of the militancy in Kashmir, he studied at Caset Experimental School in Srinagar before completing a bachelor\u2019s degree in arts from Amar Singh College. Later, he earned a postgraduate degree in mass communication and journalism in 2015 from Kashmir University in 2015, after which he wrote for local, Indian, and international platforms.<\/p>\n
Irfan wrote about a wide range of issues: human rights, drug abuse, the environment, and the political situation in the region. He edited stories for the website TwoCircles.net and founded his own publication, Wande Magazine, which published long-form journalism on culture, politics, and literature. He won an international award for his reportage on drug abuse in Kashmir, which appeared in Germany\u2019s Deutsche Welle (DW), the outlet he was working for when he was arrested.<\/p>\n
In a decade-long journalism career, it was his early, brief association with the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies (JKCCS) as an intern and researcher that would return to haunt him years later. His 2023 detention is allegedly linked to that past association, with the NIA levelling accusations of \u201cterrorism and secessionism\u201d against him in connection with the \u201cNGO terror funding case\u201d launched against JKCCS and other NGOs in Kashmir in 2020.<\/p>\n
The case has been registered under Sections 120B and 124A of the Indian Penal Code (1860) and Sections 17, 18, 22A, 22C, 38, 39, and 40 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know he is innocent,\u201d says Bisma. \u201cI believe he will return home soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
CALLS FROM JAIL AND SOLITUDE<\/p>\n
Since the arrest, anxiety has settled into the months and years for Bisma and the rest of the family. Their days are weighted down by the uncertainty they push to the shadows of their daily routine.<\/p>\n
From jail, Irfan is permitted by procedure to make two calls home every week to a pre-registered mobile number. One is a video call of around fifteen minutes; the other, an audio call of about five minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur marriage and pledges of spending life together have reduced to these two calls, which many times are shared by other family members as well,\u201d says Bisma.<\/p>\n
The challenges of surviving and sustaining a relationship under so many constraints can be overwhelming. Irfan often reiterates his innocence and urges the family not to break down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe talk about our families, each other\u2019s health, the new books and clothes he may need inside the prison,\u201d says Bisma. \u201cHe is always reassuring and insists that I take care of myself.\u201dBisma teaches at a private school, her days moving between the classroom and lesson plans. \u201cTrauma either breaks you, or it teaches you how to survive,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
For Irfan\u2019s family, the prison is now woven into the larger fabric of family life. They pray every day for Irfan\u2019s release and for others languishing in the same jail. From brief conversations during jail visits and on the phone, they have grown intimate with the rhythms of the prison system.<\/p>\n
THE COST<\/p>\n
Irfan\u2019s father, Mehraj Din Bhat, suffers from chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and heart problems. He remembers the last time he held his son \u2014 a hug at Ram Munshi Bagh police station, the day Irfan was detained.<\/p>\n
Two years passed before he could travel to Delhi in January 2025 to meet him again. The costs of incarceration: legal fees, travel for jail visits, time lost, push families into financial and psychological crisis. These burdens, he says, are rarely acknowledged by the judicial system.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am aware of his innocence from the very moment they took him into custody,\u201d says Bhat.<\/p>\n
He has been trying to revive the family\u2019s traditional Kashmiri handicraft business, for which he travelled across India and spent stretches of time in Kolkata. He had almost retired because of his ailments. But he has taken it up again, to stay occupied and keep the household running. He has now limited it to his clientele and visitors in Kashmir.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a brilliant student, a calm kid and very shy,\u201d says Mehraj Din.<\/p>\n
Mehraj says it was at Irfan\u2019s insistence that he returned to the Valley from Kolkata after his kidney problem diagnosis. He had worked for nearly two decades outside Kashmir, selling handicrafts across the country. \u201cNow, when I am back, he is away,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Haneefa Akhtar, Irfan\u2019s mother, traces the contours of her son\u2019s face in a photograph published in The Washington Post, kisses it, and weeps. \u201cI am sure he will survive through this; he is a fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n
A 21 June 2023 edition of The Washington Post carried pictures and a full-page solidarity statement in support of Irfan and other jailed journalists in India. The statement was issued jointly by organisations including the Committee to Protect Journalists, the International Press Institute, the National Press Club, Reporters Without Borders, the International Women\u2019s Media Foundation, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, the Reporters Committee, and the World Association of News Publishers.<\/p>\n
The solidarity statement was published ahead of the Indian Prime Minister\u2019s scheduled visit to the White House.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndia is one of the world\u2019s largest democracies, yet it is one of the world\u2019s most dangerous countries for the media\u2026 we stand in solidarity with the courageous journalists in India who are detained for reporting news,\u201d read the solidarity statement.<\/p>\n
The longing for her son\u2019s return, compounded by the precariousness of home life, has pushed Haneefa into a cycle of illnesses, many of them unexplained.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like I have a huge rock on my chest that keeps choking me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Resilience, learnt the hard way over years of life in a politically volatile region, holds the household together, and yet she often experiences a crushing weight in her head and chest.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe showed me his bylines whenever a story was published. Now, unfortunately, his life has become a story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Irfan\u2019s younger brother, Faizan Bhat, has been thrust overnight from consultant to decision-making elder of the household. He now holds the family together and tries to keep calm. He follows the case diligently and shuttles between Srinagar and New Delhi to attend court hearings and visit his brother.<\/p>\n
In the early days after Irfan\u2019s arrest, when investigators moved him to the NIA headquarters in Delhi, Faizan had to wait through several days of uncertainty before he could see his brother when Irfan was transferred to Rohini Jail, part of the Tihar prison complex.<\/p>\n
Faizan remembers waiting for the NIA to file its chargesheet, and then the bail hearings that kept getting delayed. The hardest part, he says, has been watching the case stretch across hearing after hearing while the family waits for answers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI only want my brother to come home. Everything else can come later.\u201d<\/p>\n
LEGAL BATTLE<\/p>\n
Lawyers point out that such cases involve lengthy arguments and complex procedures. India\u2019s Supreme Court recently observed, in CBI vs Dayamoy Mahato, that UAPA cases pending for over five years should be heard on a regular basis, and requested high courts to examine the backlog in their states.<\/p>\n
Advocate Rajat, Irfan\u2019s lawyer, presented his arguments in multiple hearings this year, with the latest on May 18, 2026. The transfer of judges at critical junctures has lengthened the timeline.<\/p>\n
\u201cArguments reached the final stage more than once, and the judge changed at that point. Each transfer requires the new judge to review documents and understand the entire case again.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family also faces the practical burden of accommodation and travel costs as the case is heard in Delhi. The toll on the family\u2019s finances and well-being is considerable. One Delhi lawyer who has followed the proceedings says the system places \u201cheavy pressure\u201d on families who live far away.<\/p>\n
\u201cCases connected with national security laws often move to Delhi even when the events took place elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Government of India has announced plans to open additional courts to handle serious cases, including UAPA, in the coming months. Lawyers hope the new courts will accelerate the process once they begin operating.<\/p>\n
SOLIDARITY AND SUPPORT<\/p>\n
Irfan\u2019s friends and the journalist fraternity in India and around the world have repeatedly demanded his immediate release and the dropping of all charges.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe prolonged detention of Irfan Mehraj, without bail, is despairing and flies in the face of all processes of natural justice. It also marks the silencing of an important voice on Kashmir,\u201d says Geeta Seesu, founder of Free Speech Collective.<\/p>\n
She further adds, \u201cThere is total opacity in the legal process for Mehraj and little or no evidence against him\u2026 Since when did researching and reporting on human rights abuses, on the plight of ordinary people in a highly militarized zone, and documenting the families of the disappeared become terrorist activity? Voices that question and dissent are crucial for society, and keeping them in jail without any bail or even a trial is antithetical to democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Press Club of India, the Editors Guild of India (EGI), and the Journalist Federation of Kashmir (JFK) have also issued repeated statements demanding his release.<\/p>\n
\u201cEGI is deeply concerned about the excessive use of UAPA against journalists, most recently in the case of Irfan Mehraj. The Guild urges the state administration to respect democratic values.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a recent statement marking Irfan\u2019s 1,000th day in jail, JFK said the situation was \u201cnot just a personal and professional tragedy for Irfan and his family but also reflects the larger state of press freedom and civil liberties in Jammu and Kashmir.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a joint statement, Human Rights Foundation (HRF) and Forum Asia wrote that Mehraj\u2019s case \u201cexemplifies India\u2019s practice of \u2018trial by jail.\u2019\u201d Hannah Van Dijcke, legal and research officer at HRF, wrote, \u201cDissidents are subjected to indefinite pretrial detention, whereby the legal process itself becomes the punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2025, the United Nations Human Rights Council found that Irfan\u2019s \u201cdetention not only contravenes international legal standards \u2014 including provisions of the ICCPR and the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders \u2014 but also exemplifies the misuse of counter-terrorism laws like UAPA to target individuals engaged in lawful advocacy and journalism.\u201d<\/p>\n
UAPA IN INDIA<\/p>\n
A 2022 Lok Sabha bill presented by the Congress Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor, on the repeal of UA(P)A, described the law as having \u201copened the door to a gross abuse of power\u201d in contravention of Article 21 of the Constitution and international counter-terrorism standards. It further stated that this act also allows for searches, seizures, and arrests based on the \u201cpersonal knowledge\u201d of police officers, \u201cwithout written validation from a superior judicial authority.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the 2019 amendment to the UAPA, the state gained the power to designate individuals as \u201cterrorists\u201d, a power previously restricted to naming groups as \u201cterrorist organisations\u201d.<\/p>\n
A report by People\u2019s Union for Civil Liberties found that 97.2 per cent of the 8,371 people arrested under UAPA between 2015 and 2020 were ultimately acquitted.<\/p>\n
Lok Sabha data from 2025 showed that 10,440 people were arrested across India between 2019 and 2023 under UAPA. Jammu and Kashmir recorded the highest number of arrests \u2014 3,662 \u2014 in the country during that period.<\/p>\n
According to Free Speech Collective\u2019s 2024 report, in the first two years after the abrogation of Article 370, more than 40 journalists in Kashmir had been called for questioning, summoned, or had their premises raided.<\/p>\n
THE WAIT CONTINUES<\/p>\n
Back home in Kashmir, Bisma, Irfan\u2019s family, and the journalist fraternity remain anxious, but hopeful of his eventual release.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is an intelligent, jolly person, who we hope would soon be among us, cracking a joke over a cup of tea,\u201d says Sajad, a childhood friend from the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n
With yet another Eid passing without Irfan, Bisma says it has been three years of solitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cI keep thinking the next Eid will be different. I imagine he will walk in, sit here with his books, and life will finally begin again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Safeena is a journalist based in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir<\/p>\n
Source: The Contrapuntal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kashmiri journalist Irfan Mehraj has spent more than 1,100 days in pretrial detention in a Delhi prison, arrested under India\u2019s anti-terror law\u2013UAPA\u2013 allegedly for work he did years earlier at a human rights organisation. While the courts deliberate, his wife, his ailing father, and his grieving mother keep vigil across 800 kilometres, waiting for a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":201117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-201112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-05-20-at-3.08.43-AM.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201112"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201118,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201112\/revisions\/201118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}