‘No Locus Standi’: India slams Pakistan over remarks on Aasiya Andrabi verdict

India on Wednesday categorically rejected the recent statement made by Pakistan in support of Kashmiri separatist leader Aasiya Andrabi, who was recently awarded life imprisonment by an NIA court, saying that Islamabad must stop “false narratives” and instead address its own human rights issues.

In a statement, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal asserted that Pakistan has “no locus standi” to comment on India’s internal and judicial matters.

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However, Jaiswal added, “one is not surprised that a country, which has long been sponsoring terrorism, has come up with such a statement condoning violence and killing of innocent people.”

The MEA spokesperson further stated that instead of peddling lies and frivolous narratives, Pakistan should introspect on the grave and systematic human rights violations it continues to perpetrate.

Andrabi, the alleged chief of the proscribed women’s pro-separatist outfit Dukhtaran-e-Millat, was given life imprisonment in a terror case. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in New Delhi also awarded a 30-year jail term to her two associates, Sofi Fehmida and Nahida Nasreen.

Andrabi’s group is allegedly part of the separatist organisation ‘All Parties Hurriyat Conference’ in the Kashmir valley, and the Government of India has declared it as a “banned terrorist organisation.”

The MEA spokesperson noted that such provocative remarks from Islamabad were expected, given its history of providing a safe haven to extremist elements.

He said that Pakistan “has long been sponsoring terrorism” and therefore condoning violence and killing of innocent people.