By SCM International Desk I Monday, August 24, 2026
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan-administered Kashmir — Ahmad Farhad, a prominent Kashmiri journalist, poet, and human rights defender, was transferred to a local hospital on August 22 following a severe deterioration in his health triggered by an extended hunger strike, human rights monitoring groups said.
Farhad has been held in administrative detention for over two months.
Local authorities detained him on June 20 in Bagh, a town in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir, using powers granted under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance. He initiated his hunger strike to protest his continued imprisonment without formal charges, calling his confinement unlawful and politically motivated.
His hospitalization marks a critical escalation in a case that has drawn international scrutiny from press freedom advocates and global rights organizations. Amnesty International issued an urgent appeal demanding Farhad’s immediate and unconditional release, citing heightened risks to his life and physical integrity.
Farhad’s detention under the MPO Ordinance—a colonial-era framework that allows state authorities to execute preventive detentions without immediate judicial review—is part of a broader, systemic crackdown against independent journalism and civil dissent across the region.
Through his poetry and reporting via independent platforms like the Times of Kashmir, Farhad has documented civil rights abuses, enforced disappearances, and regional public protests, including movements led by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) over rising living costs and administrative rights.
This is not the first time Farhad has faced state actions over his reporting:
May 2024 Abduction: Farhad was forcibly disappeared from his residence in Islamabad. Following intense public pressure and legal intervention by the Islamabad High Court, authorities acknowledged two weeks later that he was in police custody in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, charging him under anti-terrorism and public assembly laws before granting him bail.
June 2026 Re-Arrest: Shortly after returning from covering civil rights demonstrations in Rawalakot, police intercepted Farhad on the night of June 20, transferring him to Bagh City Police Station under preventive detention orders.
Coercion in Custody: Rights monitors report that authorities have pressured Farhad while in detention to sign televised statements renouncing regional civil rights movements—a practice long criticized by constitutional lawyers in Pakistan.
Wider Context: Press Freedom Under Siege
Media workers in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir face heightened risks when reporting on civil grievances, state governance, or military operations.
Human rights organizations note that laws like Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code and the MPO Ordinance are routinely deployed to restrict peaceful assembly, silence independent media, and detain vocal critics without trial.
Journalists operating outside mainstream editorial oversight in Islamabad or Lahore are especially vulnerable to arbitrary arrests, surveillance, and criminal charges. Farhad’s prolonged detention highlights the shrinking space for press freedom and civil liberties in peripheral administrative zones.
International rights groups, including Amnesty International and Front Line Defenders, continue to urge Pakistani authorities to drop all charges against Farhad, abolish arbitrary preventive detention laws, and guarantee safety for working journalists.
