Was also booked in March Was also booked in March

The Jammu and Kashmir police has registered a case against Syeda Aasiya Andrabi, chief of hardline women’s organisation Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM), for hoisting Pakistani flags in Kashmir.

The case was registered a day after she stoked controversy by her telephonic address to a Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) rally in Pakistan that was also attended by Hafiz Mohammad Saeed. JuD chief Saeed is accused of masterminding the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.

“We have registered a case against her for hoisting of Pakistani flags,” Srinagar SSP Amit Kumar told The Indian Express. “We are verifying other things and if anything is found that would be added to this FIR,” he added.

Also read: Radical women’s outfit DeM unfurls Pak flag in Kashmir

The case has been registered at the police station in Soura, Andrabi’s native place, where Pakistani flags were hoisted on the neighbouring country’s independence day on August 14.

The video of Dukhtaran-e-Millat’s flag hoisting ceremony and Andrabi’s speech was later posted on social networking sites and circulated through WhatsApp.

On the same day, Andrabi is learnt to have addressed, over telephone, a rally of Jamat-ud-Dawa in Pakistan that was also attended by Saeed. The state BJP has demanded stern action against Andrabi for the speech and demanded that she be booked for treason.

The address triggered a controversy, with BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir unit president Jugal Kishore demanding strict action against Andrabi. “These are instances of treason and will not be tolerated at all…Asiya Andrabi should be arrested.”

Jammu and Kasmir National Panthers Party leader Harsh Dev Singh noted that this was not the first time Andrabi had indulged in such acts. “I don’t understand why these people have been given a long rope by the present J&K government. It’s not the first time Andrabi has indulged in such anti-national activities…We feel unnerved by the government’s approach,” he said.

In March, Andrabi was booked for hoisting the Pakistani flag on the occasion of Pakistan Day. The separatist leader has openly advocated Kashmir’s accession with Pakistan and has served several years in jail for her hardline views.

With PTI inputs

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