The sentencing came months after the trio was convicted on January 14, 2026, for offences including conspiracy to commit terror acts, supporting unlawful activities, and waging war against the State.
BY PC Bureau
March 24, 2026: A Delhi court on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, sentenced Kashmiri separatist leader Asiya Andrabi to life imprisonment, while her associates Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen were awarded 30 years in prison each in a case linked to terror and secession-related charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The sentencing was pronounced by Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh, who had earlier convicted the three on January 14, 2026.
The three women were found guilty under multiple provisions of the UAPA and the Indian Penal Code, including charges related to criminal conspiracy, support for a terrorist organisation, promoting secession, and waging war against the State. The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which prosecuted the case, had pressed for the harshest punishment for Andrabi, arguing that her activities amounted to a direct challenge to India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Andrabi is the founder of Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM), an all-women separatist organisation she set up in 1987 in Jammu and Kashmir. Over the decades, she emerged as one of the most recognisable women’s faces of hardline separatist politics in the Valley. Authorities have long accused DeM of mobilising public sentiment against the Indian state, advocating Kashmir’s separation from India, and aligning ideologically with extremist and militant causes. Prosecutors told the court that Andrabi and her associates used speeches, writings, and other platforms to promote anti-India narratives and support a proscribed organisation’s objectives.
The case stems from Andrabi’s arrest in April 2018, when she and her co-accused were taken into custody as part of an NIA probe into alleged anti-India and secessionist activities. According to the prosecution case recorded in the January 14 judgment, the central government had received information that Andrabi and her associates were using various means to spread messages aimed at fostering unrest, promoting Kashmir’s secession, and encouraging support for unlawful and terrorist-linked activity.
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On January 14, 2026, the court held all three guilty after a lengthy trial. Reports at the time said the convictions covered offences under Sections 20, 38, and 39 of the UAPA, along with IPC provisions tied to conspiracy and anti-state activity. The court, in essence, accepted the prosecution’s argument that the accused were not merely expressing political dissent but were part of a larger effort to support an unlawful, secessionist agenda.
During the sentencing phase, the NIA sought life imprisonment for Andrabi, saying she had “waged war” against India and that the punishment needed to send a strong deterrent message. Reports on the sentencing hearings said the agency argued that conspiracies against the State strike at the foundations of national security and therefore warranted the strictest available penalty.
The verdict marks one of the most significant recent judgments involving a high-profile separatist figure from Kashmir. Andrabi has remained a deeply polarising figure: to Indian security agencies and the prosecution, she represented a sustained campaign of secessionist radicalisation; to some sympathisers, she was seen as a political voice of Kashmiri resistance. The court’s sentence now sharply reinforces the Indian state’s hard line on separatist and terror-linked cases arising out of Kashmir. This framing about her political significance is an inference based on the long-running coverage and the nature of the charges and sentencing.
With Tuesday’s order, Andrabi will serve life imprisonment, while Fehmeeda and Nasreen face three-decade jail terms unless altered on appeal. The judgment is likely to be closely watched in legal and political circles, especially because it sits at the intersection of national security law, Kashmir politics, and the broad use of the UAPA.
