Indian PM Modi trying to crush Amnesty International, alleges Amnesty chief

Amnesty International chief Kumi Naidoo on Monday said that the rights group would not be silenced on raising concerns about occupied Kashmir despite intimidation by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The government of Indian PM Modi had earlier this month accused Amnesty International India of violating foreign exchange regulations through taking money from its London-based parent.

The accusation came after Amnesty International India had launched the #LetKashmirSpeak campaign and highlighted the alarming human rights violations in the occupied valley by Indian security forces. 

"The Modi government has made a very big attempt to crush Amnesty in India," Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty International's secretary-general, told AFP news agency on a visit to Washington.

"On the Kashmir question, on various human rights questions in India itself, we are not intimidated," he said.

"While our colleagues in our Indian office are under stress, they are as committed, motivated and courageous as ever, if not more, as a result of the repression that we face." 

"It is a horrific thing to actually cut people's legitimate way of communicating with each other completely," Naidoo added.

"There are life-and-death issues associated with doing that. Whether it is family members needing to communicate with each other, being able to go to the doctor's, this is something that governments need to stop doing," he said.

Indian PM Modi had revoked the constitutional autonomy of occupied Kashmir on August 5 and imposed a military curfew in the area, imprisoning thousands of innocent Kashmiris. 

More than 4,000 people have been arrested since then, and allegations of widespread abuse and torture of detainees by Indian security forces are being reported across the world.