The lady terrorists of Kashmir: Tough nuts with patronage from the state

New Delhi, Nov 15: The NIA Wednesday filed a charge sheet against pro-Pakistani separatist and Dukhtaran-e-Millat head Aasiya Andrabi and two of her associates for allegedly "waging war" against the country using Internet platforms, officials said.

In a statement, the NIA's spokesman said Andrabi, Sofi Fehmeeda and Naheeda Nasreen were using various social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and TV channels including some in Pakistan to spread "insurrectionary imputations and hateful messages and speeches against India".

The Dukhtaran-E-Millat through Andrabi and others, openly advocates secession of Jammu and Kashmir from the Union of India and its merger with Pakistan through violent means.

It is engaged in anti-India activities and has been inciting the general populace of Kashmir for an armed rebellion against the Government of India with aid and assistance of militant organizations based in Pakistan.

The three were arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police in April and the case was later transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in July.

The spokesman said the investigation has established that Andrabi, as the chief of Dukhtaran-E-Millat, used social media and other platforms to abet waging of war against the Government of India.

"She is spreading seditious and insurrectionary imputations against the Government of India. She is promoting ill-will and enmity between different communities in India on religious grounds. Investigation has also established that she has close contacts with designated global militants Hafeez Mohammad Saeed who is the head of Jamaat-ud-Dawah and Lashkar-e-Taiba, internationally designated militant organizations that are based in Pakistan."

The NIA said that Sofi Fehmeeda, personal secretary to Andrabi, and Dukhtaran-E-Millat's general secretary, Naheeda Nasreen, have been instrumental in the use of social media and other platforms to abet waging of war against the Indian government besides spreading seditious and insurrectionary imputations against it, and are promoting ill-will and enmity between different communities in India on religious grounds.

They have collected funds to carry out activities of Dukhtaran-E-Millat and have used public platforms to incite Kashmiri youths to rise in armed rebellion against the government with the objective of securing cessation of Kashmir from India and its merger with Pakistan.

Spreading terror:

Asiya Andrabi has managed to stay in the news for her outright support to Pakistan. She has hoisted the Pakistan flag in Kashmir several times and even sung their national anthem.

Provocative and referred to as an iron lady by the separatists, Asiya is founder of the Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of the nation). The DeM is part of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference in Kashmir and the intent of this outfit is to separate Kashmir from India. Killing George Bush would be an honour Asiya has made several statements that have raked up controversies. On one ocassion she had said that if her son sees George Bush anywhere, it would be a great honour to kill him.

She had words of hate against the Indian army as well and has very often said that that it is her dream to kill the soldiers. Asiya has been in the news for all the wrong reasons since long. Married to Ashiq Hussain Faktoo one of the founders of the dreaded Hizbul Mujahideen, she has been labeled as an iron lady by her supporters.

Always in a burqa, she has been arrested in the year 2010 for waging a war against India and also inciting violence. Very recently she was in the news for hoisting the Pakistan flag and singing their national anthem on March 25 2015. Security analysts termed these are desperate measures to get noticed by Pakistan.

However, she continues to remain one of the most powerful and important separatists. She also had played a key role in the stone pelting incident of 2010 where she managed to gather scores of her supporters.

She is best known for mobilising women against India. She would invite women to read and understand Islam and wage a war against India. She believes that the women too should participate in the war against India and only then would it be a successful one. She was also instrumental in starting the Quit Jammu and Kashmir movement along with several other wings of the Hurriyat Conference. She is a staunch believer in the concept of an Islamic state and says that she would be blessed if her own sons died as suicide bombers.

She has been very unapologetic where her sentiments towards Pakistan are concerned. She by her own admission says that she has been hoisting the Pakistan flag on August 14th for the past 35 years.

She also distributes sweets on that day. She had even once remarked, " check out how many Pakistan flags are hoisted in Kashmir when their team wins a cricket match against India."

A tough nut, with the state's patronage:

An officer with the National Investigation Agency tells OneIndia that while going through the case details, it became clear that the state government never took serious action against her. She was allowed to speak out when she pleased and the maximum punishment she would get was a customary house arrest. She was never barred from speaking then.

Over the years, thanks to the patronage of the state, she went on to become an influential force. She was particularly popular among the women folk. She would urge them to join the fight against India. She was seen at several public meetings, where she would openly spew venom against the country.

Officials say that she is a tough nut to crack. She is not apologetic and even during her questioning, she spews venom against the country. The NIA is trying to find out what links she has with the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, a terrorist organisation which carried out the Mumbai 26/11 attacks.

She appears to be proud of that association and very often challenges the officers. The NIA is going through several documents apart from scrutinising her social media accounts. Those tweets in Urdu are all anti-India in nature.

According to the FIR, the "central government has received information that Aasiya Andrabi and her associates namely Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen are actively running a terrorist organization named as 'Dukhtaran-E-Millat' (DEM) which is proscribed under the First Schedule to the UAPA".

"They are using various media platforms to spread insurrectionary imputations and hateful speeches that endanger the integrity, security and sovereignty of India. DEM through Aasiya Andrabi openly advocates secession of Jammu and Kashmir from the Union of India and has also called for Jihad and use of violence against India," the FIR alleged.

The agency also said in the FIR that Andrabi and her associates had spoken, written and also published "visible representations that bring into hatred and contempt apart from exciting disaffection towards the Government of India". The organisation, it added, is promoting enmity, hatred and ill-will between different communities on the grounds of religion and is doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony. Andrabi has solicited help from proscribed terrorist organizations and along with her associates, has entered into a criminal conspiracy to wage war against the Government of India, the FIR alleged.