01-05-2025
U.S. based Kashmiri activist Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai declared ‘proclaimed offender'
Dr. Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, 76, a Washington-based Kashmiri activist who heads the World Kashmir Awareness Forum, was on Thursday (May 1, 2025) declared a 'proclaimed offender' by a court in central Kashmir's Budgam in a case filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
A Special Judge of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court, Budgam, on the plea of the J&K Police, declared Mr. Fai as a proclaimed offender in a First Information Report (FIR) filed in 2020 at the Budgam Police Station under Sections 10, 13, and 39 of the UAPA. Mr. Fai has been given 30 days from the date of proclamation to surrender before the J&K Police. According to the J&K Police, Mr. Fai, a resident of Wadwan, Budgam, was 'presently concealing himself in the U.S.'
According to police sources, Mr. Fai 'persistently evaded arrest and obstructed the legal process, avoided accountability under the law'.
In light of his continued non-cooperation and deliberate attempts to conceal himself to evade arrest, the Budgam Police presented a plea before the court. Acting on this plea, the court declared Mr. Fai a proclaimed offender on April 30, police sources said.
Mr. Fai has been a close associate of separatist leaders in Kashmir. Considered an affiliate of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), Mr. Fai graduated from Aligarh Muslim University before shifting to the U.S. in 1977 for higher studies. Currently, Mr. Fai is a citizen of the U.S. He founded the Kashmiri American Council, which lobbied in the U.S. for separatist leaders in Kashmir. He is considered one of the few influential Kashmiris who remained active on backchannels, especially with the top leadership of Republicans and Democrats in the U.S.
