In a significant development in India’s counter-terror and anti-separatism crackdown, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Delhi convicted Kashmiri separatist leader Asiya Andrabi and two of her close associates under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The court has fixed January 17 for arguments on sentencing.
The conviction comes nearly eight years after the NIA registered the case, and years after the Centre intensified action against separatist networks in Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
With this verdict, Andrabi becomes the second high-profile separatist leader to be convicted by an NIA court under UAPA after Hizbul Mujahideen leader Yasin Malik, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2022. The development is being seen as part of a broader legal and security push to dismantle separatist ecosystems operating in the Valley.
The NIA had registered the case against Andrabi and her associates in April 2018, accusing them of being part of a banned organisation, waging war against the Indian state, promoting secessionist ideology, and engaging in criminal conspiracy.
According to the agency, Andrabi repeatedly used public platforms, speeches, and written material to spread “insurrectionary, hateful and seditious propaganda” aimed at threatening India’s sovereignty, unity, and internal security. The prosecution argued that her activities were designed to radicalise women and mobilise support for separatist causes.
Asiya Andrabi, along with her associates Fahmeeda Sofi and Nahida Nasreen, was arrested by the NIA in 2018 from a Srinagar jail, where they were already lodged in connection with earlier cases registered by the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
The central agency took over the probe citing the national security implications of the case and the alleged links of the accused with banned outfits and anti-India networks.
Asiya Andrabi, 62, is the founder and chief of Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM), a women-centric separatist organisation that was initially projected as a socio-religious reform movement. In 2018, the Union government declared DeM a terrorist organisation and imposed a nationwide ban.
Born in 1963, Andrabi is a graduate in Home Science from Srinagar. Though she initially aspired to pursue higher studies outside Jammu and Kashmir, she later turned to Islamic literature, a shift that significantly influenced her ideological trajectory.
She subsequently joined the women’s wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, another organisation that was banned by the Centre in 2019 for its alleged role in promoting extremism and separatist ideology.
In 1985, Andrabi broke away from Jamaat-e-Islami to form Dukhtaran-e-Millat. The outfit gained prominence in the early 1990s, particularly in 1991, when it launched aggressive campaigns enforcing the veil and promoting hardline religious codes across parts of the Valley.
Security agencies have long maintained that DeM played a role in ideological radicalisation and acted as a support structure for militant and separatist movements.
In 1990, Asiya Andrabi married Ashiq Hussain Faktoo, a convicted militant commander currently serving a life sentence in jail. A mother of two, Andrabi was first arrested in 1993 and has since been detained multiple times under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and other security laws.
Her repeated arrests over the decades underscore her long-standing involvement in separatist politics and anti-state activities, according to intelligence agencies.
Notably, the conviction reinforces the Centre’s post-2019 strategy of tackling separatism not just through security operations but also via sustained legal action. The verdict is expected to strengthen ongoing cases against other separatist figures and networks under UAPA.
With sentencing scheduled for January 17, all eyes are now on the quantum of punishment the court will award in a case that carries significant political, legal, and security implications for Jammu and Kashmir.
