Separatist leader Asiya Andrabi makes it to J&K achievers' list, Mehbooba orders probe

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has ordered an inquiry into the matter

Jailed separatist leader Asiya Andrabi has been included in the list of women achievers by the Jammu and Kashmir government's social welfare department. Andrabi's photo features alongside Mother Theresa, Indira Gandhi, Kiran Bedi and Mehbooba Mufti herself on a government poster promoting the "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao", campaign.

The government poster has an image of a burka-clad Asiya Andrabi. She has been credited for her "achievement" as the founding leader of Dukhtaran-e-Millat, an all-woman outfit.

The gaffe did not go unnoticed with the Congress tearing into the BJP-PDP government in Kashmir. AICC spokesperson Randeep S Surjewala‏ took to Twitter to slam Mufti government for treating a separatist as their "mascot".

The poster by the social welfare department features 12 women achievers including Kalpana Chawla, Lata Mangeshkar, and Sania Mirza. The same was displayed at an event meant to highlight Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' campaign. The poster was put up on Wednesday in Kashmir's Kokernag town at an event being headed by BJP MLA Sajjad Gani Lone.

Snapshots of the poster went viral and came as a massive embarrassment to the government. Mehbooba Mufti ordered a probe to find how Andrabi's picture made it to the poster. Following the criticism that Mufti government received, child development project officer Shameema Akhter was suspended.

OneIndia News