Srinagar: The Jammu Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) has strongly condemned the conviction of Dukhtaran-e-Millat Chairperson Aasiya Andrabi, along with Fahmeeda Sofi and Naheeda Nasreen, by an NIA court, calling it a mockery of justice and an alarming indictment of the so-called judicial process.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the DFP Spokesman Advocate Arshad Iqbal said that the verdict was nothing short of judicial persecution, delivered after stripping the Kashmiri women prisoners of their basic legal rights and denying them any genuine opportunity to defend themselves.
"Such convictions, delivered without any semblance of due process, only reinforce the growing perception that the courts have been reduced to mere instruments of state coercion, cynically employed to criminalize political belief, crush dissent, and terrorize the people of Jammu and Kashmir into silence", the spokesman said.
He expressed deep concern that Kashmiri political prisoners have been booked on fabricated and politically motivated charges of sedition, terrorism, hate speech, and other accusations under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
"These prisoners are being punished solely for expressing their political beliefs and for raising their voices against the injustices inflicted upon the people of Kashmir", he added.
He appealed to the international humanitarian organisations to raise their voice against these wrongful convictions and harsh sentencing of Kashmiri leaders on fabricated and politically motivated charges.
Meanwhile, the spokesman also expressed concern over the systematic profiling of the religious caretakers of mosques, terming it as a direct interference into their religious affairs and a flagrant violation of their right to privacy.
He urged the United Nations and other international institutions to exert pressure on the Indian government to ensure basic human rights and meaningful political space for the people of Kashmir and resolution of the long-drawn Kashmir dispute in line with the UNSC resolutions.