Aasiya Andrabi receives three life terms, highlighting India's dissent crackdown

Activists and legal experts have condemned an Indian court’s verdict that handed down three life sentences to prominent Kashmiri separatist Aasiya Andrabi, saying the harsh sentencing of a 64-year-old woman “fits a broader pattern” of India’s policy with dissenting voices in the disputed region. Andrabi, the founder of Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM), a banned all-women’s organisation, was sentenced on March 24 by a special National Investigative Agency (NIA) court in New Delhi. Two of her associates, Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen, received 30 years in jail.

The three women were arrested by the NIA in 2018 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and various sections of the Indian Penal Code. The UAPA, first introduced in 2008, was amended in 2019 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to allow authorities to declare individuals as “terrorists.” Andrabi was accused of waging war against the Indian government and raising funds for terrorist acts. However, Judge Chander Jit Singh found no evidence related to these charges, convicting her on lesser allegations such as provoking hostility and instigating public disorder.

Legal experts argue that Andrabi’s conviction is based primarily on offensive speech, raising questions about India’s tolerance for dissent. A Kashmir-based legal researcher noted, “Ideology is not punishable by law; only actions are.” Andrabi’s son described the conviction as “effectively a death sentence” given her age and health, as she has spent over ten years in various Indian jails since her first imprisonment in 1993.

The court’s remarks regarding the lack of remorse displayed by Andrabi and her associates have been criticized as “deeply problematic” by Kashmir Times, which argued that such considerations risk penalizing individuals for their beliefs rather than proven actions. Born in 1962 in Srinagar, Andrabi has been a vocal advocate for Kashmir’s merger with Pakistan, becoming a political hardliner after alleged electoral rigging in 1987.

This case illustrates the Indian government’s increasing intolerance towards dissent, particularly in Kashmir, where the political landscape has been heavily militarized since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. The ongoing crackdown on dissenters raises significant concerns about the future of political expression in the region.

What to watch: The impact of Andrabi’s sentencing on future dissent in Kashmir and potential international reactions to India's human rights record.