The Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 (PSA) is an administrative law that allows the arrest and detention without trial of any individual with no warrant or specific charge for a period of up to two years. This Act, described by Amnesty International as a “lawless law,” has contributed to the creation of the rule of fear that dominates Kashmir. The Act has been used as a political weapon to detain protestors and dissenters for long periods of time. A report by the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) noted that 662 persons, including a former chief minister and a sitting Member of Parliament, were booked under the PSA in 2019, the year that Jammu and Kashmir was stripped off its special status. Khurram Parvez, a Kashmiri human rights activist and program coordinator of JKCCS has faced detention…

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