Ashiq Hussain Faktoo


Qasim Faktoo is a Kashmiri separatist leader who is known as "Nelson Mandela of Kashmir", on account of his prolonged imprisonment and academic accomplishments in prison. He strongly opposes India's rule in Kashmir and deems India an imperial and colonial power.
As of May 2020 he is in jail since 1993. Faktoo has been accused of being involved in the murder of Hriday Nath Wanchoo, an activist. He was sentenced to life imprisonment until death based on a confessional statement drawn under duress. In July of 2001, he was acquitted of the murder charges by the court, under the following observation: "The prosecution has miserably failed to prove the case against the accused persons." But the ruling government prolonged his detention. Many academicians have termed his detention as a "political vendetta".
He was released in 1999 for a short span of time.
In 2012, Kashmir High Court ruled that he must be imprisoned until death. He earned his PhD in Islamic Studies in the Prison, and had been working from another degree. In 2016, India's Supreme Court rejected his plea for releasing him.
His wife Asiya Andrabi is also a separatist leader and chairperson of Islamist organisation Dukhtaran-e-Millat.

Education

Faktoo graduated in Commerce from Islamia College Srinagar. He went on to obtain various academic degrees like MA, MPhil in Islamic Studies and Maulvi Fazil from Kashmir University. He has been also awarded PhD in 2006 in Islamic studies.