Irfan Mehraj was born and raised in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. From a young age, he proved to be a talented writer and quickly turned those talents to documenting and reporting on human rights violations in Kashmir. He founded the online literary magazine Wande Magazine and is an editor at Two Circles. He has also been published in a number of global publications including Deutsche Welle, The Indian Express, TRT World, The Wire, The Caravan, Himal Southasian, NewArab, and many more.
In 2024, Irfan was awarded the Human Rights and Religious Freedom Journalism Award in recognition for his incredible journalism and human rights work.
On March 20, 2023, shortly after his marriage, Irfan was arrested by India’s NIA under the UAPA. Today, Ifran remains imprisoned in Delhi awaiting due process more than 500 miles away from his family, friends, and support networks.
