Feeling safe beneath a veil

Srinagar: Dukhtaran-e-Millat is a radical Kashmiri women's organisation which aims at complete Islamisation of Kashmir. The members call themselves daughters of the faith and are missionaries of the burkha.

These women are feared on the streets of Srinagar for their extremist brand of Islam. The Dukhtaran-e-Millat ensure that women adhere to puritan Islamic laws, sometimes even by forcing them.

Their leader, 45-year-old Asiya Andrabi, is a warrior in a veil, who believes that Kashmir should be a part of Pakistan because all Muslims need to be under one united banner. She even wants her two young sons, Ahmed and Mohammad, to become Mujahideens.

The wife of Mohammad Qasim, a member of the militant outfit Jamait-ul-Mujahideen, who has been in prison for the last 12 years, Andrabi had first burst into the scene in the 1980's when she tried to swamp the valley in burkhas.

Known for her violent protests on Valentine's Day, beauty parlours and cinemas, Andrabi is now in news for her protests against the Kashmir sex scandal.

During one of Andrabi's protests in the streets of Srinagar, a young Muslim woman looked on in wonder and awe at the fiery leader as she extolled all Kashmiri women to cover themselves from head to toe in order to be true Muslims.

The young woman, 17-year-old Suraiya, was transformed from that moment on. A gold medallist national judo champion, Suraiya, was a young girl who followed the latest fashion trends like any other average teenager.

But inspired by Andrabi, Suraiya transformed herself completely. In her place was born an extremist woman, a full-fledged member of the Dukhtaran-e-Millat.

The moment Suraiya stepped into this garb, she burnt all her clothes and photographs from the past and threw away all trophies from tournaments.

Suraiya says it was penance for the crime she had been committing for 17 years of her life, for being a bad Muslim. This is her true self, a young woman in burkha, the way, she says, all Muslim women should be.

"This is the way all Muslim women should be. We should be in burkha. The Koran tells us that Muslim women must cover themselves like this. We shouldn't show ourselves to other men. That is a crime. Why should women go to beauty parlours, what for? I don't go. Why should anyone? We mustn't look beautiful because that will tempt men. And as women, we must cover ourselves and make every effort to ensure that we don't do anything to make men aware of our beauty. That is our duty," says Suraiya.

Suraiya's family are liberal Muslims and they don't want anything to do with her. Her eldest brother works in France and her younger sisters are both settled in the United States. Her mother, who now lives on her own in Srinagar, is still trying to come to terms with the fact that her daughter is now a fundamentalist.

Suraiya lives with her grandparents and cousin, who have accepted her in her new form.

"Family did not accept me, my mother didn't either. Only my cousin brother did and that too after a lot of shock. But now, I get the feeling that my mother feels I am on the right track and doing what Islam wants me to do," says Suraiya.

A foot soldier in the Dukhtaran-e-Millat, Suraiya, has already made herself indispensable to the Chief. Accompanying Andrabi for all her meetings and protests, Suraiya, is now learning how to follow in the giant footsteps of her chosen leader.

"Inshallah, inshallah! It is my dream to be like Asiya Andrabi. When I see her, I keep wondering how brave she is, how dedicated she is to Allah. I will never be able to make sacrifices like her, but inshallah, I will try my best. When she says that we need to be a part of Pakistan, I agree. We should, because all Muslims need to be in one state. And as you have noticed, majority of people here are Muslims. To be like Asiya baaji is a dream that I will fulfil. I will put myself to whatever sacrifices I have to in order to be like baaji," says Suraiya.

Meanwhile, Andrabi is not surprised at inspiring such loyalty. It's what she commands from her followers and it's what she gets.

For Andrabi, who has been fighting a war for the complete Islamisation of the valley, young women like Suraiya are her battle spoils, her victory song.

"Look at this prostitution racket, look at what's happened to women. It's the plan of the Indian Government to turn Kashmir into a prostitution den. People now know that what the Dukhtaran-e-Millat was saying was right. I never approached them and asked them to join the Dukhtaran-e-Millat. They themselves want to come. But more than joining Dukhtaran-e-Millat, they are embracing Islam. Chastity has to be saved. It is not a commodity," says Andrabi.

At home in Srinagar's Sheora locality, Andrabi is today a contented warlord. The sex scandal has put the Dukhtaran-e-Millat on a pedestal of sorts. Her prophecy has come to pass; every thing she had warned about has now happened.

In fact, when she suggested that the forum against social evils be formed, a body of individuals who would look for ways to protect Kashmir against further damage, the response was massive.

At their first meeting, dozens of people crammed into a tiny room in a Srinagar hotel to hear her appeal to all Muslims to prevent such scandals.

Asiya Andrabi is being heard and being heard loudly by those very people who once scoffed at her.

The Dukhtaran-e-Millat has suddenly become the answer for several women, who are looking for protection from a religious identity.

Astoundingly, they would much rather be labeled religious fanatics than face the label of 'prostitutes' simply for sharing a Coca Cola with a male friend.

The organisation says it has hundreds of members across Kashmir and many more now want to join.

Women who are willing to follow the strict code of the Dukhtaran-e-Millat, are often considered too extreme even by those within the faith.

Asiya Andrabi wears several labels with ease - religious fanatic, chieftain, mother and wife. Now, she has donned yet another, that of the protector that many young women are turning to.

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