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Srinagar: The conviction of Kashmiri women leaders Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Aasiya Andrabi and her associates Nahida Nasreen and Sofi Fehmeeda has laid bare India’s ruthless machinery of political repression in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.<\/p>\n
According to Kashmir Media Service, legal experts slam the regime’s playbook: slamming dissenters with draconian laws, dragging them through years of trial limbo far from home, and doling out convictions on flaky charges \u2013 all while the real punishment is served long before the verdict. They maintain their true \u201ccrime\u201d is political.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe charge against Andrabi is simple,\u201d a profile of the women notes. \u201cShe fiercely advocates Kashmiris\u2019 right to self-determination and challenges attacks on Muslim identity and religious freedoms.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Kashmiri legal expert, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case, said the prosecution carries implications that go far beyond the three accused.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis case was never just about these women. It is a message to every Kashmiri woman who might think of raising her voice. Prosecuting the leader of a women\u2019s organization\u2014one that ran educational and religious circles\u2014under anti-terror laws signals to the entire population that even civic and religious activity is suspect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The expert noted that nearly eight years of pre-trial detention undermined fundamental justice. \u201cKeeping someone in prison for eight years before any verdict is pronounced transforms the legal process itself into collective punishment. When that person is a woman, a mother, or a grandmother, held hundreds of kilometers from her family, denied medical care, it is not just legally problematic\u2014it is inhumane.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a clear pattern: Kashmiris are arrested under the most severe laws, held for years in distant jails, trials are delayed endlessly, and even when main charges collapse, convictions on lesser counts are secured. The conviction becomes almost secondary. The punishment has already been delivered,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The women now face potential life imprisonment, with sentencing scheduled for January 17, 2026.<\/p>\n
After nearly eight years of imprisonment as under-trials, a special NIA court in Delhi on Wednesday convicted Asiya Andrabi (64), Nahida Nasreen (61), and Sofi Fehmeeda (38) on charges of conspiracy, association with an unlawful organization, and statements deemed seditious. The trial, which began in 2018, saw repeated delays, with charges framed only in 2021 and the verdict deferred multiple times.<\/p>\n
The court acquitted them of the most charges, including waging war against India as the prosecution could not establish any evidence. Remaining convictions are primarily based on speech, writing, and association, reflecting the criminalization of political dissent rather than any violent acts.<\/p>\n
Supporters note that all three women have suffered serious health deterioration during their detention in Tihar Jail, over 800 kilometers from Kashmir. Andrabi suffers from diabetes, asthma, arthritis, angioedema, urticaria, and bronchospasm; Fehmeeda has severe back pain and gastric reflux requiring surgery she has been denied; Nasreen has multiple ailments and has been refused adequate medical care.<\/p>\n
The three women remain in Tihar Jail, awaiting sentencing and preparing an appeal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Srinagar: The conviction of Kashmiri women leaders Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Aasiya Andrabi and her associates Nahida Nasreen and Sofi Fehmeeda has laid bare India’s ruthless machinery of political repression in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. According to Kashmir Media Service, legal experts slam the regime’s playbook: slamming dissenters with draconian laws, dragging them through years …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":192621,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-192620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indian-occupied-jammu-and-kashmir"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t