Over two months after her conviction in a terror conspiracy case involving seditious activities aimed at waging war against the government of India and promoting the secession of Jammu and Kashmir, a Delhi court on Tuesday sentenced Kashmiri separatist leader Asiya Andrabi to life imprisonment. Her associates, Nahida Nasreen and Sofi Fehmeeda, were awarded 30-year jail terms.
The case was investigated by the National Investigation Agency.
Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh pronounced the sentence, holding 65-year-old Andrabi guilty under multiple provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The court also imposed fines amounting to several lakhs.
Co-accused Fehmeeda (39) and Nasreen (61) were each sentenced to 30 years of imprisonment under Section 18 of UAPA and Section 120B IPC, along with fines of ₹5 lakh. They were also awarded 10 years each under Sections 38 and 39 of the UAPA and four years each under Sections 153A, 153B, and 505 of the IPC.
Under Section 121A IPC, both were sentenced to 10 years in jail along with fines. The court directed that all sentences would run concurrently and granted the benefit of set-off for the period already spent in custody.
During the arguments, the NIA sought life imprisonment for Andrabi, stating that her actions amounted to waging war against India and warranted the harshest punishment. The agency submitted that the accused were not merely participants but key conspirators in a larger design against the state.
According to the prosecution, the trio were associated with the banned outfit Dukhtaran-e-Millat and were actively involved in propagating anti-India content through speeches, social media platforms, and public mobilisation.
The court observed that the organisation advocated the secession of Jammu and Kashmir from India and its merger with Pakistan. It further noted that the accused used digital platforms and public addresses to incite unrest and promote communal disharmony.
Investigations also pointed to alleged links with foreign entities, including Pakistan-based elements, and the use of online networks to spread propaganda, indicating a wider cross-border conspiracy.
On January 14, the court had convicted Asiya Andrabi and her associates Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen for their involvement in a terror conspiracy and seditious activities aimed at waging war against the government of India and promoting the secession of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Court held that the National Investigation Agency had successfully proved that all three accused were active members of the proscribed terrorist organisation Dukhtaran-e-Millat and had worked in tandem to propagate anti-India, secessionist ideology through speeches, public gatherings and social media platforms.
Arrested in 2018 in terror funding case
Andrabi and her two associates were arrested by the NIA in 2018 for allegedly advocating the secession of Jammu and Kashmir and promoting violence against India.
Andrabi is the founder of the Kashmiri women's separatist group Dukhtaran-e-Millat, formed in 1987 and described by the Union Home Ministry as a proscribed outfit.
She is also the wife of Hizbul Mujahideen commander-turned-Hurriyat leader Qasim Faktoo, who has been in jail since 1993.
Dukhtaran-e-Millat was also named in an earlier NIA case in which Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen supremo Syed Salahuddin were chargesheeted.
The agency had accused Andrabi of soliciting support from banned terrorist organisations to wage war against the government of India.
The FIR in the case was registered on April 26, 2018, against Andrabi and her associates Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen.
Notably, Andrabi's husband, Qasim Faktoo, is already serving a life sentence in a separate case related to the 1992 murder of Kashmiri Pandit human rights activist Hriday Nath Wanchoo. He has been lodged in Udhampur jail since 2018.
