Two Andrabis, two extremes One a ‘Daughter of Nation’, other a ‘Daughter of India’ Srinagar, Nov 23: They share their last names. They are politicians. They are two extremes. Syeda Asiya Andrabi and Darakshan Andrabi are the two sides of a coin called Kashmir. While Asiya, the founding leader of Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of the Nation), represents the separatist right in Kashmir, Darakshan joined the rightwing Bharatiya Janta Party, which is leading Prime Minister Narendra Modi-headed government at New Delhi. On how there is so much divergence among the two Andrabis, Asiya told Rising Kashmir that the difference in opinion among them had nothing to do with their surnames and was true about the entire Kashmiri society and elsewhere as well. About Darakshan’s joining BJP, Asiya said after Narendra Modi swept polls in India, there was an impression that BJP would also sweep polls in Jammu and Kashmir and “opportunistic people” were jumping the bandwagon. “Darakshan used to be with Sikh groups and has now joined BJP,” she said. “I am not surprised with her joining BJP as these people can go to any extent.” Asiya, whose organisation was banned in the nineties and she had to remain underground until 2004, said Darakshan had tried to meet her on a number of times and called her saying she was desirous to meet her. “I told her, ‘I don’t have any time to meet a woman like you and our meeting is of no use as you have chosen a different route and our ways are entirely different,’” said the Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief, who is married to Muhammad Qasim Faktoo, the longest serving detainee in Kashmir. Often referred to as a ‘warrior in a veil’, Asiya, who started a school in 1981 and from one school went on to have units in most of the districts of Kashmir, said the so-called mainstream politicians had “no morals, ethics, and character”. Asiya advocates of an election boycott and said all the mainstream political parties – National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party, Congress and the BJP – were birds of a feather and had already shown what they were up to. On the contrary, Darakshan Andrabi, who merged her left leaning Socialistic Democratic Party with the rightwing BJP, said the rightwing party had a development agenda. “BJP’s Kashmir policy is good and they have a good program for the nation,” said Darakshan, whose political campaigns ‘Vote for India’ and ‘Aman Ke liyay Rai-Shumaari’ earned her the title ‘Daughter of India’. Darakhshan, whom BJP has fielded against Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the Sonwar assembly constituency, had earlier presented a vision document of her party on J&K’s economic development to Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh. On how her views were so different to another Andrabi – Asiya’s, Darakshan said, “I’m a mainstream politician and Asiya has a different policy.” Darakshan, who has composed poems and written extensively for the defence forces said, “I won’t compare myself to Asiya and you should not compare her to me.” Darakshan said when she was in college, Asiya was working actively. “What she is doing is good in her own way, what I am doing is something else,” said Darakshan, who worked as Editor Sheeraza, the bi-monthly Urdu journal of J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages. The winner of a number of State awards like Rani Laxmi Bai Award and Vandemataram Samman, Darakshan said, “Asiya’s heart wants something different, my heart wants something else.” Darakshan said she had never had a one-on-one meeting with Asiya but held her in high regard. “All I wish is that if you send your child to study abroad, you should also wish the children of poor also get better education,” Darakshan said. “Some people like pelting stones, I like throwing flower petals yet there are people who mistake my flower petals for stones.”
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 02:41:20 +0000
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