Aasiya Andrabi: Dukhtaran-e-Millat Women’s Commander in Kashmir  

Aasiya Andrabi: Dukhtaran-e-Millat Women’s Commander in Kashmir  

Executive Summary:

• In March, a Delhi court sentenced Aasiya Andrabi—founder of the Kashmiri all-women terrorist group Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM)—to life in prison for terrorist conspiracy and promoting Jammu and Kashmir’s secession from India.
• Under Andrabi's leadership, DeM pursued Kashmir's merger with Pakistan through violent armed struggle, and also sought to enforce a strict Islamic moral code on Kashmiri society, particularly targeting women.
• Andrabi enabled separatist mobilization, logistical coordination, and militant networking in Kashmir. She received funding from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and connected with individuals attempting to join Islamic State (IS).

On March 24, the Karkardooma Court in Delhi sentenced Asiya Andrabi—the head of Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM)—to life in prison. Andrabi founded DeM, or “Daughters of Faith,” as a Kashmiri all-women terrorist organization. Her associates, DeM Press Secretary Sofi Fehmeeda and General Secretary Nahida Nasreen, were also sentenced to 30 years in prison each (lawbeat.in, March 24). They were all found to be involved in terrorist conspiracy, seditious activities, and promotion of Jammu and Kashmir’s secession from India (gadyalkashmir.com, January 22). 

Andrabi’s Background

Asiya was born to a conservative family in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, sometime between 1961 and 1963. Her father, Ghulam Nabi Andrabi, was a government employee, while her mother was a homemaker (statetimes.in, January 16). She graduated with a degree in biochemistry from Women’s College in Srinagar and then joined the women’s wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist movement founded in British India in 1941. 

In the early 1980s, Andrabi established Madrasa Ta'lim-ul-Quran in Srinagar, where girls were taught the Quran, hadith, and Arabic language (BBC Urdu Service, January 18, 2021). In 1985, she launched her first women’s ḥalaqah (Islamic study circle) dedicated exclusively to providing religious instruction. In the same year, she drafted her first pamphlet, A Message to the Daughters of Fatima, and distributed it among young women across various areas of Srinagar. The pamphlet portrays the Prophet Muhammad’s daughter, Fatima, as the ideal Muslim woman. The daily local newspaper, Aftab, called Andrabi’s followers “Dukhtaran-e-Millat,” the name later adopted by the group. 

Andrabi broke away from Jamaat-e-Islami in 1987 to form DeM. She then married Ashiq Hussain Faktoo (alias Dr. Mohammad Qasim) in 1990. Faktoo was one of the top militant commanders of the Kashmir Valley, but he was later arrested in 2003 and is now serving a life sentence for murdering Kashmiri Pandit human rights activist, Hriday Nath Wanchoo (newindianexpress.com, February 8, 2015).

Andrabi’s Ideology and Career

In her own words, Andrabi and DeM draw inspiration exclusively from the Quran. Their ultimate goal is Kashmir’s merger with Pakistan through a violent armed struggle. According to Andrabi, traditional Kashmiri culture is un-Islamic, and Kashmiri women should follow only Islamic principles (YouTube/@awtv, April 16, 2020). She was influenced by the thoughts of author Maryam Jamileeh and became convinced of the need for an Islamic Caliphate, veiling for women, and the implementation of Sharia law (BBC Urdu Service, January 18, 2021). As a self-proclaimed “Islamic feminist,” Andrabi’s discourse infers that all Kashmiri women, by virtue of being “good Muslims,” must take part in violent Islamist terrorism (efsas.org, July 2020).

By 1988, Andrabi focused on pressuring local authorities to pursue social and cultural reform, including gender-based segregation in public transport and other public spaces. When violent terror incidents began occurring in Kashmir in 1989, however, Andrabi directed efforts towards sustaining the militant movement (efsas.org, July 2020).  During the 1990s, DeM assumed an increasingly prominent role in several activities, including the forced shutdown of all 15 movie theaters in Kashmir. 

In 1993, DeM issued warnings to women in Srinagar not to venture outside their houses without wearing the burqa or veil. DeM was thought to be responsible for a bomb blast that killed Mushtaq Ali, a photographer from Agence France-Presse, in Srinagar in 1995. Notably, Ali was in the office of the then-BBC reporter, Yusuf Jameel, when the parcel bomb was delivered by a burqa-clad woman (ommcomnews.com, June 1, 2025). In May 2001, DeM claimed that Pakistan terrorists active in Jammu and Kashmir alone were the “true representatives of the Kashmiri people,” and no one else had the right to initiate talks with India's Union government. 

By 2015, Andrabi was raising the Pakistani flag and singing its national anthem in Srinagar. Later that same year, she released a video slaughtering a cow to provoke tensions after a beef ban took effect (statetimes.in, January 16). In 2018, a National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigation initiated on orders of the Indian Home Ministry indicated that DeM operatives were using social media, speeches, and rallies to advocate for Kashmir’s merger with Pakistan. As a result, Andrabi and her two associates were arrested on April 18, 2018 (lawbeat.in, January 14).

Ties and Connections

Andrabi has personal connections to Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), as her husband was one of its founding members (The Times of India, March 15, 2015). In 2005, Andrabi received money from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) through UK-based Kashmiri expatriate Ayub Thakur and his local conduit Imtiyaz Bazaz. The money was reportedly meant for the Jamait-ul-Mujahideen militant outfit (tribuneindia.com, August 31, 2005). 

Two of Andrabi’s nephews were arrested in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, in September, 2013. Pakistani Police had cited their links with Andrabi and claimed to have recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from them. In 2010, Masarat Alam Bhat—considered the main planner of stone-pelting rallies across Kashmir—received support from Andrabi, who used village networks to gather DeM supporters (timesofindia.indiatimes.com, March 15, 2015).

On December 27, 2015, three men from Hyderabad, India, were arrested for allegedly planning to join Islamic State (IS). The three—who were related to the former president of the Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI)—confessed to having ties to Andrabi, as they sought her help to cross the border to enter Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (newindianexpress.com, December 31, 2015).

As a result of these activities, she has been regularly featured in Jamaat-ut-Dawa, anti-India or pro-Kashmir rallies in Pakistan through audio or video conferencing. For example, on August 14, 2015, she greeted the people of Pakistan on their Independence Day in her telephone address to the rally held in Lahore. Reportedly, Hafiz Saeed was seen sitting on the stage during her speech. Later, in a June 2017 article for JuD’s magazine, where Andrabi glorified Saeed as a beacon of hope for oppressed Kashmiris (Hindustan Times, August 17, 2015).

Conclusion 

Representing a radically motivated women’s group, Andrabi enabled separatist mobilization, resource flows, logistical coordination, and militant networking in Kashmir. Under her leadership, DeM has followed a two-pronged strategy: supporting militant activities aimed at the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan, while simultaneously seeking to alter Kashmiri society through the promotion and enforcement of a rigid Islamic moral and social code, particularly targeting women.