Kashmiri filmmaker Arfat Sheikh detained by ICE en route to ‘Art as Resistance’ panel

An award-winning Kashmiri filmmaker was detained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Independent reported, citing his friends and supporters.

ICE detained Arfat Sheikh at the Washington Dulles airport on 24 September while he was on his way to attend an ‘Art as Resistance’ panel, scheduled to take place at Busboys and Poets in Washington DC, the Independent reported

Sheikh had just stepped off his flight from California when the ICE agents surrounded him and took him into custody without a warrant despite him presenting his immigration paperwork, his friends said.

The 42-year-old Sheikh has been kept at the Caroline Detention Facility in Virginia and was expected to appear before an immigration judge on Tuesday.

He was travelling with author Tara Dorabji, who was one of the speakers at the September 26 panel, where she would address the experiences of the survivors of torture in Kashmir, Independent reported.

About Arfat Sheikh

Arfat Sheikh is a Kashmiri filmmaker who has been living in the US for the past few years. According to the Independent, his first feature film, Saffron Kingdom, which won him accolades, explores displacement, conflict and identity in Kashmir.

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