Asiya held for anti-Valentine's Day drive

Hardline all-woman separatist group Dukhtaran-e-Millat's attempt to dissuade couples from celebrating Valentine's Day was foiled by the police on Friday.

Hardline all-woman separatist group Dukhtaran-e-Millat's attempt to dissuade couples from celebrating Valentine's Day was foiled by the police on Friday.

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Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief, Asiya Andrabi, arrived at Srinagar's commercial hub Lal Chowk in the afternoon. But as soon she and her associates started moving towards nearby restaurants, the police swooped on them and took them into preventive custody.

Andrabi, a firebrand leader, keeps dissuading the couples from celebrating V-Day every year while describing it "an unIslamic tradition". Andrabi, wife of Dr Qasim Faktoo who is facing a life term in Srinagar, said, "Ours is a Muslim society and Islam does not permit vulgarities like Valentine's Day celebrations or exchange of greetings between unmarried boys and girls on any occasion."

Since 1979 Iranian revolution, Andrabi has been opposing what she calls "West's cultural aggression".