Daughters of the Faith

2/15/2007

Dukhtaran-e-Millat, known as the Daughters of the Faith and the Daughters of the Kashmir Nation, is unlike most Islamic terrorist groups because it comprises women, not men. They are however, like all other Islamic terrorist groups in that they are fundamentalist Muslims.

Dukhtaran-e-Millat is best known for its vigilante efforts to impose strict Islamic customs and practices in the Indian-administered Kashmir state. Further, they strive to aid other Pakistani terrorist groups operating in Kashmir. They are thus aligned with Hizbul Mujahideen, Jamiat ul-Mujahideen, and Lashkar-e-Jabbar.

Daughters of the Faith was formed in 1987 by Asiya Andrabi, a brash woman described as both a fundamentalist Muslim and a feminist. In other words, she was mentally deranged and schizophrenic. Andrabi formed Dukhtaran-e-Millat to help Kashmiri women gain rights conferred to them by Islam, but since the handful of rights that are mentioned at best explicitly and repeatedly state that a woman is worth half a man, her club quickly morphed into focusing on being more militant than feminist. Her religious crusade is now focused on the political objective of forcing Kashmir to merge into Islamic Pakistan. Violent jihad has been her weapon of choice; killing to bring change in the region and the world as a whole.

Like so many other fundamentalist Islamic groups, the Dukhtaran-e-Millat believes that it is their religious duty to terrorize those who visit establishments which play music, hair salons, bars, movie theatres, and any other institution deemed un-Islamic. The "feminist" group has beaten women for sitting with men and thrown acid on women who go outside without completely hiding themselves.

The Daughters of the Faith first made headlines in 1992 after attacking several Kashmiri women who defied their order requiring all women to wear the burqa (Islamic clothing that covers the whole body from head to toe, including the eyes, which are hidden behind a mesh veil). In 1993, Andrabi was arrested with her husband, a member of the Hizbul Mujahideen (Party of Holy Warriors). In 2001, they made headlines again for advocating a campaign of violence against women who refused to wear the burqa. Then in September 2005, Andrabi was arrested a second time and sentenced to two years in jail by the Indian government for beating a woman who was sitting with a man in a restaurant. Even thought the man was the victim's husband, it mattered not to this religious crusader. Nor did it matter to Andrabi's adoring fan base. Her detention caused widespread outrage and protest among Muslims in Kashmir, and Andrabi was released before her sentence was fully served.

To bankroll their religious acts, the Daughters of the Faith traffic illegal weapons, engage in money laundering, and provide covert operations and courier services for the Hizbul Mujahideen, Jamiat ul-Mujahideen, and Lashkar-e-Jabbar terrorist groups. Andrabi has, as one might expect, praised and expressed support for Osama bin-Laden, al-Qaeda, and the Taliban.