Asiya Andrabi | |
---|---|
Born | 1962[1] |
Citizenship | Indian |
Education | BSc Biochemistry, M.A Arabic |
Alma mater | University of Kashmir |
Political party | Dukhtaran-e-Millat |
Board member of | Chairman of Dukhtaran-e-Millat |
Spouse | Ashiq Hussain Faktoo |
Children | 2 |
Asiya Andrabi is a Kashmiri separatist and founding leader of Dukhtaran-e-Millat. This group is part of the separatist organisation All Parties Hurriyat Conference in the Kashmir valley. Government of India has declared it as a "banned organization".[2] The organisation claims that it aims for the freedom of Kashmir from India.[3]
Asiya Andrabi remains one of the most important women separatists in the valley.[4] Asiya Andrabi was married to Qasim Faktoo (a founding member of the Hizbul Mujahideen) in 1990. Her husband is in jail since 1992. By then, Asiya was already the head of Kashmir's biggest network of 'women jihadis' (as she describes her 'lieutenants of Dukhtaran-e-Millat').[5][6]
Asiya Andrabi has taken part in various protests in the Kashmir valley. She is best known for supporting Masarat Alam in the 2010 Kashmir unrest across Kashmir by using her village network of Dukhtaran-e-Millat operatives for rally support.[5] She hoisted the Pakistan flag and sang the Pakistani national anthem in Kashmir on 25 March 2015.[7] Later on, she was booked for unfurling the Pakistan flag on its national day in Srinagar.[8] On 12 September 2015, she slaughtered a cow and released a video in a bid to defy the ban on sale of beef in Jammu and Kashmir.[9]
On 6 July 2018 Asiya was taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), India's federal anti-terror organisation, for allegedly "waging war against India" and other unlawful activities.[10][11]