Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai
Chairman
World Forum for Peace & Justice

Washington, D.C,March 30, 2026 – Early this morning, I received a call from a longtime friend—his voice heavy with grief. He spoke of the life imprisonment of Mrs. Aasiya Andrabi and the decades-long sentences handed to Mrs. Sofi Fameeda and Mrs. Nahida Nasreen and then, almost instinctively, asked a question that transported me back three decades: “Is Asiya Andrabi related to Jalil Andrabi?”

The question lingered—not because of any familial connection, but because it reopened a wound that time has failed to heal. Exactly thirty years ago, on March 27, 1996, Advocate Jalil Andrabi—a distinguished human rights defender and Chairman of the Kashmir Commission of Jurists—was brutally assassinated. Today, his memory is not just a recollection of a man, but a reminder of justice denied.

Jalil Andrabi was not merely a lawyer; he was a voice for the voiceless. He documented abuses, challenged impunity, and carried the stories of victims from the shadows of Kashmir to the global stage. I had the privilege of knowing him personally. In August 1995, I invited him to Geneva to attend the 47th session of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Human Rights. His interventions there were not diplomatic abstractions—they were urgent, lived realities. He warned the world that the atrocities in Kashmir were not isolated incidents, but part of a systematic policy aimed at breaking the will of a people. Those words would prove tragically prophetic.

During the United Nations Sub-Commission, Dr. Nazir Gilani, an eminent jurist and President of the Jammu Kashmir Council of Human Rights, hosted a dinner in honor of Jalil Andrabi, attended by more than three dozen international NGOs. Dr. Gilani also played a pivotal role during the Commission in advocating for Jalil Andrabi to be recognized as a “UN Protected Person.” The following year, on April 1, 1996, Dr. Gilani organized a memorial in Geneva to honor his friend—who had fallen to torture for a cause that we all so deeply cherish and uphold.

Months later, in March 1996, Jalil Andrabi was abducted while returning home with his wife in Srinagar. Twenty days later, on March 27, 1996, his lifeless body was found in the Jhelum River—tortured, mutilated, and discarded. It was not just a killing; it was a message. A message meant to silence truth.

The subsequent pursuit of justice became, in itself, a testament to systemic failure. The Jammu & Kashmir High Court identified Major Avtar Singh as responsible and ordered his arrest. Yet instead of accountability, what followed was facilitation—his escape from India, his relocation to Canada and ultimately his death in California in 2012 after committing further acts of violence. The case was never resolved. Justice was never served. This failure was not incidental—it was structural.

Laws such as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) have, for decades, created an environment of near-total immunity. Under its shadow, allegations of torture, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances have persisted with little consequence for perpetrators. Jalil Andrabi had become a target precisely because he dared to challenge this culture of impunity. He understood the risks; he confided that his life was in danger. Yet he chose to return to Kashmir—to be with his family for Eid—knowing full well what awaited him. His courage stands in stark contrast to the silence that followed.

At the time, there was no shortage of condemnation. The spokesperson of the State Department, Mr. Nicholas Burns issued a statement on March 29, 1996, and called for a transparent investigation. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ambassador Ayala Lasso, denounced the killing. Members of Congress also wrote a joint letter to Secretary of State Warren Christopher on March 27, 1996, and requested that the Secretary of State call upon our ambassador to India and raise this matter with the government of India. Amnesty International demanded accountability. Statements were issued. Appeals were made. Yet three decades later, those words remain hollow echoes.

What does it say about the international system when such a high-profile case, documented and acknowledged, remains unresolved? What message does it send to victims and their families?

The truth is uncomfortable: justice, when filtered through geopolitical interests, often becomes selective. Strategic alliances, economic considerations, and regional calculations too often overshadow the fundamental principles of human rights. When accountability is sacrificed at the altar of expediency, impunity is not just tolerated—it is reinforced.

Jalil Andrabi’s story is not an isolated tragedy. It is part of a broader pattern—one that includes the continued detention of political leaders and activists, the silencing of dissent, and the shrinking space for civil liberties. Prime examples are Mohammad Yasin Malik, Shabir Ahmed Shah, Masarat Aalam Bhat, Khurram Parvez, Irfan Mehraj, and of course Asiya Andrabi, Sofi Fameeda, Nahida Nasreen and many others. The names change, but the underlying reality persists. And yet, memory endures.

I recall traveling with Jalil Andrabi in 1995 to attend the ISNA convention in Columbus, Ohio. Over long hours on the road, we spoke not just of politics, but of principles—justice, dignity, and the responsibility to speak truth even when it is inconvenient. He was a man of intellect and humility, of conviction and compassion. His life was dedicated to illuminating injustice; his death was meant to extinguish that light. But, it failed.

Thirty years later, the question is not merely about the past—it is about the present and the future. Will the international community continue to rely on statements without substance? Will governments prioritize strategic interests over human rights? Or will there finally be a reckoning with the principles they so often proclaim?

Justice delayed is often described as justice denied. In the case of Jalil Andrabi, it is something more—it is a continuing indictment of a system that has failed to uphold its own ideals.

As we remember him today, we must also confront the uncomfortable truth that remembrance alone is not enough. It must be accompanied by renewed commitment—commitment to accountability, to transparency, and to the universal application of human rights.

Because until justice is served, Jalil Andrabi’s story is not over. It is still being written.

Dr. Fai is also the Secretary General World Kashmir Awareness forum.
He can be reached at:WhatsApp: 1-202-607-6435 or gnfai2003@yahoo.com
www.kashmirawareness.org