Srinagar, Aug 18: The Chairperson of Dukhtaran-e-Millat, Aasiya Andrabi has accused the Government of hatching a conspiracy to create mistrust between her and the Kashmiris with the objective of suppressing the ongoing agitation.
 Reacting to the statement by Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, and some media reports that she was intending to send her son to Malaysia for advanced studies, Aasiya termed it as a bundle of lies.
 “The Government is frustrated by the ongoing agitation in the Valley. It wants to create confusion and mistrust between me and the people. The reports that I wanted to send my son abroad for studies is part of a conspiracy to suppress the ongoing movement,” Aasiya said.
 Elaborating, Aasiya said she had been invited by the Pakistan Government to visit the country in January this year. Aasiya said since Islam does not allow a woman to undertake travel without being accompanied by a close relative, so her son Muhammad Bin Qasim also applied for the passport.
 “As Qasim was not invited by the Government of Pakistan, he mentioned the purpose of getting passport as studying abroad. However, Muhammad’s passport application was rejected by the government on the grounds that his father was a militant serving life imprisonment,” she said.
 Aasiya said as she was frequently arrested, her brother stood as guardian of her children. “My brother filed a petition in the Court to challenge the Government’s decision of rejecting my son’s passport application. The public prosecutor asked our counsel to mention the purpose of his client’s visit abroad and he mentioned studying in Malaysi as an option,” she clarified. 
 “The Regional Passport Officer called my son saying if he withdraws the case from the Court, they will give him the passport. If I wanted to send my son abroad, it was a golden opportunity for me. But my son is still in the Valley and in fact has applied for admission for 5-years integrated BBA/MBA course in Kashmir University,” she said.
 She questioned the timing of what she said the “hue and cry” over her son’s passport issue. “If my son had done something wrong, why didn’t the Government raise the issue before the ongoing unrest?” she questioned.
 Aasiya accused the Government of trying to harm her image by stating that she wanted to travel abroad on Indian passport. “Till resolution of the Kashmir dispute, the Kashmiris have no option but to travel on India passport. Even for Hajj, they have to travel on the same document. This does change the sentiments or stand of Kashmiris on the dispute,” 
 Aasiya said when she was released from the jail in 1994, the then DIG had offered her security. “He (DIG) asked me to care for future of my children and offered security to me saying Pakistani infiltrators had intruded into the Valley. I categorically refused and maintained that if there was danger to her or Kashmiris, it was from the Indian troopers,” she said.
 Aasiya said the sacrifices rendered for the movement by her family are known to the people of Kashmir. “My children have sacrificed their childhood for the cause. When they needed the love and care, I was in jail. They respect the sentiments of Kashmiris and are in their own way lending support to the freedom movement. I want to maintain that my sons are studying in Kashmir. They have no intention of becoming politicians, IAS or KAS officers but will work for protection of Kashmiris interests,” she said.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:00:00 IST