NIA files charges against separatist Andrabi

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday charged Kashmiri separatist Aasiya Andrabi and her two associates, Sofi Fehmeeda and Naheeda Nasreen, with waging war against the country.

Andrabi, who heads the proscribed women’s group Dukhtaran-e-millat (DEM), Fehmeeda, and Nasreen were arrested in July and are lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail.

An NIA statement said a charge sheet against the three, who face the death penalty if convicted, was filed before a special judge in New Delhi. It said the three were involved in propaganda on social and other media platforms and allegedly incited armed and violent rebellion against India. “… (Andrabi, Fehmeeda, and Nasreen) were using various media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, TV channels including channels in Pakistan to spread insurrectionary imputations and hateful messages and speeches against India,’’ the statement said. “DEM, through Aasiya Andrabi and others, openly advocates secession of Jammu & Kashmir from the Union of India and its merger with Pakistan through violent means.”

The agency accused Andrabi of having close ties with designated global terrorist Hafeez Mohammad Saeed. Saeed heads Pakistan-based internationallydesignated terrorist organizations, Jamaat-ud-dawah (JUD) and Lashkar-e-toiba (LET).

Officials said Andrabi has been involved in anti-india propaganda for years and the J&K government has acted against her many times.

“But the action of the NIA against Andrabi is a clear indication to the separatist elements in Jammu and Kashmir that the government will not hesitate in acting tough against them,” said a security official, who did not wish to be named.

Andrabi’s lawyer, Mir Shafaqat, said she told him that there is no evidence with the NIA.