Kashmiri militant gets doctorate in prison

Srinagar, July 7 (UNI) A militant, serving a life sentence in the Central Jail here for hatching a conspiracy to eliminate a noted Kashmiri Pandit human rights activist, has been awarded a doctorate by the Kashmir University.

Ashiq Hussain Faqtoo alias Muhammad Qasim, the husband of Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of Faith) chief Asiya Andrabi, was the financial chief of the Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen (JuM) militant outfit before his arrest.

In 1987, Faqtoo had registered for pursuing a research programme in the S H Institute of Islamic Studies and submitted his thesis titled ''Sunnah as the source of Islamic Shariah: An analytical study of Ibn Taimiyyah''.

He completed his research under the supervision of Prof S M Yunus Gilani, the Director of S H Institute of Islamic Studies.

According to a Kashmir University notification, Faqtoo has been declared qualified for the award of Ph.D degree in Islamic studies, in the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Besides discussing status, authority, authenticity, compilation, classification and application of Sunnah, the scholar has also touched upon its relevance vis-a-vis social, economic, legal and political aspects in his research work.

On February 2, 2003, the Supreme Court convicted and sentenced to life three JuM militants, including Faktoo, for hatching a conspiracy to murder noted Kashmiri Pandit human rights activist Hriday Nath Wanchoo in 1992.

The other two sentenced to life were lecturer Shafiq Khan and Gulam Qadir. All three were earlier acquitted by a Jammu TADA court of the charge of killing Wanchoo. The Supreme Court then overturned the ruling of a TADA court.

The JuM militants kidnapped Wanchoo from his residence at Jawahar Nagar in Srinagar, took him to Balgarden and shot him dead on December 5, 1992.

The CBI had charge sheeted 12 accused, of which four died and five were declared absconders. The other three were acquitted by the designated court at Jammu.

UNI AG AK ND1736