Indian Courts Being Used as Instruments of Repression Against Kashmiri Leadership: INSPAD President

Islamabad: President of the Institute of Peace and Development (INSPAD), a human rights and interfaith harmony organization, Dr. Muhammad Tahir Tabassum, has strongly condemned what he described as the systematic misuse of Indian courts to silence the legitimate leadership of Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement issued here, Dr. Tabassum said that the Indian government is employing judicial institutions as a “coercive and vindictive weapon” to suppress influential Kashmiri voices. He maintained that cases registered against Kashmiri detainees are politically motivated, fabricated, and aimed solely at political revenge.
He stated that prominent leaders including Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Asiya Andrabi, Fehmida Sufi, Masarat Alam, Zafar Akbar Butt, and others remain unlawfully incarcerated, deprived of adequate medical care, and subjected to inhumane prison conditions. According to him, the provision of substandard and unhygienic food to detainees constitutes a blatant violation of Indian law as well as international human rights conventions.
Dr. Tabassum appealed to the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the European Union, and international human rights organizations to take urgent and effective action to protect the lives and dignity of the Kashmiri leadership. He also urged the Government of Pakistan to intensify diplomatic and political efforts against what he termed unjust and politically driven punishments.
Highlighting specific cases, he said Yasin Malik has been singled out as a target of state-led retribution against the Kashmiri freedom movement. He further asserted that the harsh treatment of Dukhtaran-e-Millat Chairperson Asiya Andrabi, along with Fehmida Sufi and Nahida Nasreen, reflects an attempt to silence Kashmiri women through force—an approach he said would never succeed.
Dr. Tabassum also condemned what he described as systematic interference in mosques and minority places of worship, as well as the seizure of personal properties in occupied Kashmir, calling these actions a direct assault on religious freedom and fundamental human rights.
Citing human rights figures since 1989, he stated that 96,481 Kashmiris have been martyred, including 7,409 in custody or staged encounters. He added that over 180,000 civilians have been arrested, more than 110,000 homes and buildings demolished, 22,991 women widowed, 108,007 children orphaned, and 11,269 women subjected to sexual violence.
Dr. Tabassum concluded by accusing the Indian government, under the BJP’s Hindutva-driven ideology, of abandoning humanitarian values and pursuing a policy rooted in vengeance and hostility rather than justice and peace.