'Inshallah, Kashmir Will Become Part Of Pakistan'
In her first major interview to the mainstream Indian media, the Dukhtaran-e-Millat leader reveals the Talibanesque mindset of a woman who's known as Malka-ul-Maut (Angel of Death)...
It is in downtown Srinagar that I meet Asiya Andrabi, leader of the separatist Kashmiri women's group Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of the Nation). One has heard stories about her spraying paint on women who do not wear burkhas. She is known to have sent burkha-clad activists to burn Valentine's Day cards and posters, raid liquor shops, and restaurants boasting special seating arrangement for couples. Her organisation was banned in the '90s and Asiya was underground till 2004. Meanwhile, she married a mujahideen, currently serving life sentence in an Indian jail. Yet, despite this record, when she takes off her veil, Asiya looks like a middle-aged woman who'd be more comfortable in a kitchen rather than painting anti-America and anti-Israeli placards. In Asiya's first major interview to the mainstream Indian media, she reveals the Talibanesque mindset of a woman who's known as Malka-ul-Maut (Angel of Death) and represents the extreme Islamist fringe of the homegrown militancy in Kashmir. Excerpts from an interview to Aditi Bhaduri:
Tell me about yourself. What made you launch Dukhtaran-e-Millat?
What kind of support was your organisation providing to the militants?
What is Dukhtaran-e-Millat all about?
This means you don't believe in nationalism, but in the ummah (the concept of a global Islamic community)?
Don't you think that that is a big farce now? And what would be your contribution in creating an ummah? You can see how ineffective even the Arab countries are in solving the problem in Lebanon...
This, then, is your long-term goal?
What is the approximate numerical strength of your organisation?
And you have links with other similar organisations outside India?
Under the PDP government, people feel that there has been a change for the better. Do you feel you have become irrelevant?
People accuse you of being a RAW agent. What would you say to that?
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