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Pakistan has put journalist Danish Irshad on a terrorism watchlist without a trial or any specific allegation against him. Irshad extensively covered the protests in POK, where Pakistani security forces have killed more than 80 civilians in the crackdown. He also interviewed families in POK whose children were killed by Pakistani forces.
Danish Irshad is a journalist and researcher who has covered POK and its politics for nearly a decade. (Image: Irshad Danish/ X)
Pakistan has placed journalist and researcher Danish Irshad, who extensively reported on the recent agitation in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK), and covered the region for nearly a decade, on a terrorism watchlist, subjecting him to restrictions on his travel, banking and public life without a criminal conviction or trial.
Irshad, who works with Lahore-based outlet Neo News, and is a columnist for the Jammu-based Kashmir Times, was placed on Pakistan's Fourth Schedule through an order issued by the so-called Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Home Department on July 29, according to a Kashmir Times report. The Fourth Schedule is an administrative terrorism watchlist used to monitor people the Pakistani establishment suspects of having links with proscribed organisations.
The protests in POK are being led by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), which the government banned on June 5. The agitation is driven by demands over political representation, subsidies and governance, including abolition of 12 assembly "Assembly" seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees settled in Pakistan. The agitation has continued through July and into August despite arrests and a security crackdown, with internet disruptions and restrictions on media. More than 80 civilians have been killed by Pakistani security forces, cthe JAAC has claimed.
"How did a journalist's speaking and writing become an act of terrorism? Declaring anyone guilty without trial can never be justified," said Danish Irshad, speaking to outlet, Drop Site News.
Irshad's inclusion in the terrorism watchlist has prompted journalists and activists to question why a reporter covering the region has been subjected to anti-terror measures, particularly as the notification reportedly contains no specific allegation against him. The Imran Khan-led PTI has called it the "Facism" of the Pakistani hybrid regime.
So, who is Danish Irshad, what has he been reporting on, and why has Pakistan put him on its terrorism watchlist?
WHO IS DANISH IRSHAD?
Irshad is a Rawalpindi-based journalist who began reporting in Islamabad in 2015 and has covered the politics of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan for nearly a decade.
Both POK and Gilgit-Baltistan are integral and inalienable parts of India which Pakistan had illegally annexed in 1947-48.
Apart from writing as a columnist for the Kashmir Times, he is the author of a book on the region's post-1947 history and has appeared in broadcast interviews discussing the recent unrest in POK, reported the Kashmir Times.
Pakistan-based BBC Urdu journalist Roohan Ahmed, writing on X, described Irshad as "a professional journalist and a researcher, who has always stood with those needing the voice."
"It looks like an attempt to silence a critical and sane voice," Ahmed said after Irshad's name emerged on the watchlist.
WHAT DID DANISH IRSHAD DO?
The official notification itself did not identify any specific act by Irshad that led to his inclusion on the Fourth Schedule.
According to the Kashmir Times, Irshad appears 12th on a list of 24 people from POK. The notification invokes Section 16(1) of the AJK Anti-Terrorism Act, 2014, and describes those listed as activists associated with the Jammu & Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JK-JAAC).
The government had banned the JAAC in June amid an escalating protest movement in the region.
However, the notification did not spell out an individual allegation against Irshad or explain what he personally did to warrant being placed on a terrorism watchlist, the Kashmir Times reported.
Independent outlet Drop Site News reported that Irshad had most recently been interviewing families whose children were allegedly killed by Pakistan's armed forces. The report linked his designation to a broader crackdown on journalists and activists following the June ban on the JAAC.
Irshad said he was neither tried nor convicted before being listed.
"Adding someone's name to the Fourth Schedule without any court order and without any trial raises a serious question about the state's credibility," Irshad told Drop Site News.
According to Pakistan's Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), people placed on the list can face a passport embargo, frozen bank accounts, restrictions on obtaining loans and credit cards, curbs on arms licences and increased state monitoring.
The Kashmir Times reported that the order was never served on Irshad. He said he first learnt about his designation through social media on August 18 and subsequently had it confirmed through a source in the Home Department of the so-called government in POK.
PAK JOURNALISTS CALL IT ATTACK ON PRESS FREEDOM
Irshad's listing has drawn criticism from Pakistani journalists and activists, who have portrayed it as part of a wider attempt to suppress reporting and dissent in POK.
Pakistani journalist Saleh Safeer Abbasi called the move "a direct attack on press freedom".
"Dissent is a right, not a crime. Remove Danish Irshad from the Fourth Schedule!" Abbasi said on X.
UK-based Pakistani activist Azhar Ahmed said using counter-terrorism measures against a journalist was "deeply alarming" and sent "a chilling message" to reporters documenting protests, state action and human rights conditions.
"Journalism is not terrorism. Reporting, documenting and questioning those in power must not be criminalised through anti-terrorism laws," Ahmed said on X.
New York-based Pakistani investigative journalist Areeba Fatima took to X and highlighted the absence of a trial or court order.
The case comes against the backdrop of a wider crackdown in POK following the banning of the JAAC and the months-long agitation that has followed. The Kashmir Times reported that 147 activists and supporters of the JAAC were placed on the Fourth Schedule on June 20 alone, with more names subsequently added.
Despite the continuing protests and crackdown, Pakistan went ahead with elections in POK, which India called a "complete farce", though unrest and security concerns forced polling in several constituencies to be postponed.
The crackdown in POK comes as Pakistan's military establishment under Field Marshal Asim Munir faces pressure on four fronts — from insurgency in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to tensions with Afghanistan and continuing unrest in the illegally disputed region. At the same time, Munir, who is locked in a confrontation with jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his PTI, has been further consolidating his position as Pakistan's undisputed power centre.
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Published On:
Aug 22, 2026 14:19 IST
