[....] Police charged the seven students under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), a stringent anti-terrorism law, as well as other sections of the penal code.

Many people in occupied Kashmir support any cricket team playing against India — including arch-rival Pakistan — and fireworks were set off in the main city of Srinagar to celebrate Australia’s victory.

The arrests were criticised by Mehbooba Mufti, the former chief minister of occupied Kashmir.

“Why is there so much fear, restlessness and paranoia only because some students celebrated Australia’s victory?” Mufti told reporters on Tuesday.

“You […] want to destroy their lives for cheering the team of their choice and for expressing happiness when that team plays well. I condemn it,” she said.

India has used the vaguely worded UAPA legislation against thousands of Kashmiri residents, journalists and dissidents, according to activists. It allows people to be held for six months — often rolled over — without being charged, and bail is virtually impossible.

In 2021, police detained six residents and opened an investigation under UAPA against several hundred students in the occupied territory who celebrated when Pakistan defeated India in a high-octane T20 World Cup cricket match in Dubai.

Police in Ganderbal district on Tuesday issued a statement on X, formerly Twitter, to explain the context of the recent arrests, which they claimed were not about “airing personal preference of a particular sporting team” [....]