Delhi Court Sentences Asiya Andrabi To Life Imprisonment In UAPA Case
Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief convicted of waging war against India; associates Fehmeeda and Nasreen get 30 years; NIA reveals Pakistan ISI and Hafiz Saeed links
A Delhi court on Tuesday sentenced Kashmiri separatist leader and Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Asiya Andrabi to life imprisonment under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, with her two associates Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen sentenced to 30 years in prison in the same case.
Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh pronounced the sentence after hearing arguments on the quantum of punishment. Andrabi, Fehmeeda, and Nasreen had been convicted on January 14 under Sections 20, 38, and 39 of the UAPA, as well as multiple IPC sections including criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity between groups, statements prejudicial to national integration, and conspiracy to commit offences against the state. The National Investigation Agency had pressed for life imprisonment for Andrabi, arguing she had waged war against India and that a stern message was necessary to deter those who conspired against the state.
Andrabi's NIA interrogation report reveals an extensive network of contacts with Pakistani officials and designated global terrorists. She told investigators she was in regular touch with former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif — who sent her a condolence letter after her mother's death in 2015 — and frequently spoke with his foreign policy adviser Sartaz Aziz. The report said she met Pakistani officials, including then High Commissioner Abdul Basit and deputy high commissioner Syed Haidar Shah, at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi in 2014, where she told them Pakistan was "taking the Kashmir issue casually."
The report further revealed that Andrabi maintained regular contact with UN-designated global terrorist and Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed, asking him to pressure the Pakistan government on Kashmir. Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin also regularly called Andrabi, with whom she discussed persuading Pakistan to raise the Kashmir issue at the United Nations. She also had contacts with former ISI chief Hamid Gul, according to the interrogation report.