MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore on Tuesday strongly condemned the sentencing of three girls activists by an Indian court docket, terming the decision a manifestation of “political coercion” aimed toward silencing dissent in India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
In a social media put up on X, Rathore denounced the life imprisonment awarded to Kashmiri chief Asiya Andrabi, together with 30-year sentences handed right down to her associates Fehmida Sofi and Nahida Nasreen by a particular court docket of India’s Nationwide Investigation Company (NIA) in New Delhi.
“These verdicts usually are not about justice; they’re devices of political coercion designed to criminalize dissent and suppress the official voice of the Kashmiri folks,” he stated, including that focusing on girls for his or her political views laid naked the “deep bias” within the system.
Andrabi is the founding father of a Kashmiri rights group known as the Dukhtaran-i-Millat, or Daughters of the Nation.
The court docket sentenced her, Fehmeeda and Nasreen below the Indian Illegal Actions (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Extra Periods Decide Chander Jit Singh of the specifically designated NIA Court docket handed down the sentences after listening to arguments in regards to the quantum of punishment.
Authorities prosecutors alleged that Andrabi was concerned in a conspiracy to hold out militant actions.
The three had been convicted on January 14, 2026, below varied provisions of the anti-terror regulation and the Indian Penal Code, together with “prices of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts and waging warfare in opposition to the state”.
They had been the one accused within the case and had been convicted collectively, making Tuesday’s order the primary sentencing ruling within the matter.
The AJK premier stated the choice mirrored a broader sample through which peaceable political expression within the occupied territory was being met with punitive measures. “This isn’t the rule of regulation; it’s the systematic criminalization of a official political battle for the internationally acknowledged proper to self-determination,” Rathore stated.
He urged the United Nations and worldwide human rights organizations to take fast discover of the event and play their function in making certain the discharge of Kashmiri political prisoners.
“The folks of occupied Jammu and Kashmir can’t be subdued via intimidation. Their resolve for freedom, justice and dignity will endure,” he added.
In the meantime, Uzair Ahmed Ghazali, a frontrunner representing the post-1989 migrants from occupied Jammu and Kashmir, additionally denounced the decision, describing it as a stark instance of injustice and politically motivated retribution.
Ghazali, who heads Pasban-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir (PHJK), stated the penalties imposed on the three activists violated established human rights norms and mirrored a coverage of coercion over dialogue.
“The one ‘offence’ of Andrabi and her associates is their steadfast battle for his or her elementary and internationally acknowledged proper to self-determination; they’re, in actual fact, being punished for talking the reality,” he stated.
Drawing consideration to Sofi, he famous that her continued detention over the previous seven years, coupled with the most recent sentence, had successfully derailed her tutorial and private life, elevating critical humanitarian considerations.
“Such choices in opposition to Kashmiri girls represent grave human rights violations and a flagrant breach of worldwide regulation and fundamental ideas of justice, reflecting India’s coverage of suppressing dissent via pressure,” he added.
Altaf Ahmed Bhat, a senior chief of the All Events Hurriyat Convention (APHC) and Chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Salvation Motion (JKSM), described the case as politically motivated and fabricated below the “draconian” UAPA.
“These fabricated instances usually are not about justice. They’re designed to imprison, discredit and destroy the management of a folks striving for his or her fundamental rights,” Bhat stated. He accused the Indian authorities of routinely denying medical remedy, ignoring credible well being wants, and preserving Hurriyat leaders in harsh circumstances, amounting to “gradual elimination inside jail partitions”.
Dozens of jailed leaders, akin to Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Masarat Alam Bhat, Dr Abdul Hameed Fayyaz, and Zaffar Akbar Bhat, continued to languish with out due course of, amongst whom the well being of many had been deteriorating whereas that they had no entry to crucial care, he stated.
“This isn’t justice; that is persecution. When judicial methods are used as devices of repression, detainees develop into prisoners of politics, not regulation.
“These ways mirror a bigger technique aimed toward crushing Kashmiri political actions via manufactured prices and extended incarceration quite than via truthful and open political dialogue,” Bhat acknowledged.
Calling for worldwide engagement, each Ghazali and Bhat urged the worldwide neighborhood, human rights watchdogs, and the United Nations to take pressing motion, maintain India accountable, and strain New Delhi to launch all Kashmiri political detainees, implement UN resolutions on Kashmir, and facilitate the long-delayed means of plebiscite and the suitable to self-determination.
They stated that such measures couldn’t deter the Kashmiri folks from persevering with their pursuit of justice and their acknowledged proper to self-determination.
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