Sentence to Aasiya Andrabi, associates is ‘cruel & coercive’: Farooq Rehmani
Islamabad: Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, former Convener of All Parties Hurriyat Conference-AJK chapter, has strongly condemned the double life sentence awarded by an Indian court to Syeda Aasiya Andrabi, Chief of Dukhtaran-e-Millat, along with 30 years imprisonment to her two associates.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Rehmani in a statement termed the verdict as “cruel, unjust and predetermined,” and accused the BJP-led Indian government of having no regard for dissent, free press, judicial impartiality, or human rights in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Farooq Rehmani stated that the NIA has developed a pattern of interpreting all political, social, and educational activities of Kashmiri leaders through a narrow and biased lens influenced by Hindutva ideology. He further said that the RSS-backed BJP has cultivated deep-rooted hostility towards Kashmir, particularly its Muslim-majority identity and the internationally recognized dispute.
He added that since August 2019, the people of IIOJK have been deprived of their fundamental human and legal rights following the region’s fragmentation and merger with India. He said Kashmiris are now living under severe restrictions, with draconian laws curbing daily life and properties of many individuals being confiscated or attached.
Farooq Rehmani noted that Syeda Aasiya Andrabi and her associates had been engaged in educational and social activities aimed at character-building and advocating for basic political rights prior to their arrest.
He said the verdict has caused widespread shock and anguish among the people of Jammu and Kashmir as well as within legal circles. He urged international human rights organizations and the global legal community to raise their voices against what he termed a prejudicial and orchestrated sentence, and to press for its revocation by higher judiciary.
