A Delhi court on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to Kashmiri separatist and Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Asiya Andrabi in a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Two of her associates, Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen, were sentenced to 30 years in prison each.
The trio had been convicted on January 14 under various provisions of the UAPA and for criminal conspiracy, including charges related to waging war against the country.
The sentence follows the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) plea earlier this month seeking life imprisonment for Andrabi.
The agency had argued that she had waged war against India and that a strong message was needed to deter any conspiracy against the State.
Andrabi is the second separatist leader to face conviction by an NIA court under UAPA, since the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the NIA, the accused had used their banned organisation, Dukhtaran-e-Millat, to incite unrest and push for the secession of Jammu and Kashmir from India. The agency also told the court that Andrabi has a long history of alleged criminal activity, with 33 FIRs registered against her across Jammu and Kashmir.
Her co-accused Fehmeeda and Nasreen are also linked to multiple cases, with nine and five FIRs respectively. The convictions include offences under Sections 20, 38 and 39 of the UAPA, related to membership and support of a terrorist organisation.
Who Is Asiya Andrabi?
Asiya Andrabi, 62, is the founder of Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM), which was initially set up as a social reform group. In 2018, the central government declared the organisation a terrorist outfit and imposed a ban on it.
Born in 1963, Andrabi studied Home Science and completed her graduation in Srinagar. She had planned to pursue post-graduation in Darjeeling, but did not receive permission from her parents. She later turned to Islamic literature, which significantly shaped her views, and went on to join the women’s wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, which was banned in 2019.
In 1985, Andrabi founded Dukhtaran-e-Millat after breaking away from Jamaat-e-Islami. The group gained attention in 1991 for its campaign to enforce the veil in Jammu and Kashmir. In 1990, she married Ashiq Hussain Faktoo, who is serving a life sentence. A mother of two, Andrabi was first arrested in 1993 and was later detained several times under the Public Safety Act.
