SRINAGAR, Feb 5 (1993) – Police on Friday arrested Kashmir’s most wanted woman rebel, at the forefront of a virulent drive against federal troop violence towards women, in the northern India state.
The arrest of Asiaya Andrabi, leader of Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughter of Islam) and her husband, Mohammad Quasim, ended an intense four-year hunt for the firebrand Moslem secessionist leader in strife-torn Kashmir.
“We have her in the bag,” said police inspector-general Amar Kapoor, adding that the 33-year-old Andrabi and her husband had been charged under tough anti-terrorist laws.
The officer gave no further details of the arrest, but sources said Andrabi was picked up from one of her several hideouts in Srinagar, where she holds sway over other militant factions and their women’s wings.
Andrabi launched Daughters of Islam in November 1989 as reports of rapes of Kashmiri women by Indian troops grew in the Moslem-majority valley.
“Kill — don’t lose honour,” was the charismatic leader’s message to Kashmiri women, whom she ordered to carry daggers for self-defence.
Andrabi’s group attracted more than 5,000 women as its shadowy leader avoided traps and stepped up the Islamisation of Moslem women, forcing them to wear veils in public and follow other rituals of the faith.
“We have several cases pending in courts against her,” officer Kapoor said, referring to complaints lodged against Andrabi by women accusing the Millat of harassing them in the streets.
Andrabi’s husband is also a top leader of the outlawed Jumaite Mujahedeen secessionist group.
