It seems that those who present themselves as advocates of law and order, freedom and human rights, are the first to violate these concepts when they clash with their own interests and agendas.

The most recent evidence can be derived from strikes and protests organised by Kashmiri parties opposed to Indian rule, in the wake of the arrest of Dukhtaran-e-Millat, (Daughters of the Nation) chief Asiya Andrabi and six of her colleagues on September 1.

Instead of condemning the DM for imposing its own laws and code of conduct and attacking people and premises in a so-called campaign against "adultery, obscenity, and debauchery", they lashed out at the local government, accusing it of preventing "our sisters from carrying out this moral obligation".

The DM, a militant organisation of women, was formed by Andrabi in the mid-1980s. Its initial objective was to help Kashmiri women fight for their rights conferred on them by Islam.

Accordingly, it fought for special reservations for women in public buses, ostracised families that demanded dowry and married off poor girls.

With jihad momentum moving from Afghanistan to Indian-held Kashmir, however, the group undertook new objectives, including acting as a messenger for separatist militants and staging rallies in their support.

The DM cadres also led campaigns against foreign films, cinemas and beauty salons and tried to impose the burqa on Kashmiri women, warning them not to venture outdoors without it.

In several cases, they reportedly sprayed paint or threw acid on women refusing to give up their traditional costumes in favour of imported fundamentalist attire.

As a result, the DM was banned by the central government and Andrabi was detained for a year.

War on immorality

After some years of silence, she has recently been back in news for forming the Maryam Squad, an all-women vigilante group acting as a form of moral police.

The squad has vowed war on immoral practices, focusing in particular on prostitution and the sale of alcohol and setting up a telephone number for people to report couples committing adultery.

Andrabi has claimed that her group acts on behalf of the local people and said: "No mercy for anyone who is embroiled in or protects immoral activity."

She accused local authorities of being indifferent regarding the growing menace of flesh trade in Kashmir. Police denied that and promised to act against anyone breaking the law, saying it has so far arrested several unscrupulous elements involved in such businesses.

Brothels have been banned in Kashmir since the 1930s in response to a single-handed campaign against prostitution in Srinagar led by Subhan Hajam, who was recently honoured and described as a hero by the Maryam Squad.

But a covert flesh trade has been going on, particularly in the period preceding the outbreak of separatist violence in 1989.

With normalcy returning to the state in recent years, brothels, as well as alcohol shops, seem to be coming back gradually.

What has pushed the police to strike against the squad, however, was the latter's implementation of a new policy of carrying out raids on liquor shops, bars, hotels, restaurants and internet cafes.

Liquor, according to Andrabi, is "the mother of all vices" and the mushrooming growth of internet cafes and restaurants in Srinagar is responsible for "moral decline in society" as these places help young men and women fraternise.

The story of Andrabi, a science graduate and daughter of physician, serves as an example of how a girl with an enlightened upbringing can turn into an extremist.

After reading a book on Muslim female warriors, she came to the view that only jihad could protect Islam, deciding not to marry anyone but a mujahid, something that she achieved by getting married to Mohammad Qasim.

The latter, a member of the militant Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, is currently in jail for fighting the Indian army.

The Maryam Squad represents a new version of religious police or the so called "Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice".

Unlike those in Saudi Arabia or the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, its membership is restricted to married women, whose identities are hidden from the public behind their veils.

Dr Abdullah Al Madani is a Bahrain-based Gulf researcher and writer on Asian affairs. He can be contacted at aelmadani@gulfnews.com