The United States Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), which portrayed the Hamas-led October 7 massacre as a legitimate response to Israeli oppression, has done it again. In a statement issued on April 1, 2026, the USCMO condemned India’s prosecution of three members of Dukhtaran-e-Millat, a group that advocates jihad and supports the use of violence to impose Sharia in Kashmir, as an act of “Hindu-chauvinist” persecution.
The United States Council of Muslim Organizations has come to the defense of a woman once described as ‘The Angel of Death’ by Kashmiris.
In the statement, the USCMO condemned the Indian government for sentencing three Kashmiri Islamists to life in prison. The organization reports that prosecutors failed to prove that the three defendants—the group’s founder Aasiya Andrabi, and two accomplices, Nahida Nasreen and Sofi Fahmeeda—had perpetrated specific acts of violence. What the USCMO failed to acknowledge, however, is that the defendants were convicted of conspiracy to support terrorism, sedition, and a host of other crimes. In its statement, the USCMO lamented that Andrabi had been unable to speak to her jihadist husband—who is also imprisoned—or to play a role in raising her children.
Andrabi’s Background
It is an odd complaint to raise on behalf of Andrabi, a self-proclaimed “Islamic feminist” and founder of Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM), an all-female separatist movement in Kashmir. The group advocates for jihad to establish Sharia law and to gain independence from India. Under her leadership, DeM has been repeatedly linked to the ISI, Pakistan’s notorious intelligence service, known for its ties to the Taliban. DeM’s activities and advocacy for jihad have been described as an attempt to “Talibanize” Kashmir. Numerous reports indicate that members and allies of the DeM perpetrated acid attacks on women in Kashmir in an attempt to impose Sharia in the territory. Furthermore, she has been an open supporter of Lashkar-e-Jabbar, an organization that gained notoriety after throwing acid on two women for “not dressing Islamic enough.”
In 2007, The Economist reported that the Andrabi-founded DeM had “wrecked beauty parlours and liquor shops, ransacked dimly-lit restaurants for encouraging smooching and celebrated Valentine’s Day by burning cards.” As a result of her actions, locals referred to Andrabi as “the Angel of Death,” the publication added.
Andrabi’s husband, Ashiq Hussain Faktoo, a senior figure in the jihadist group Hizbul Mujahideen, is serving a life sentence for the murder of human rights activist.
Predictably, the USCMO omitted this information in its statement and instead framed the three as imprisoned for their alleged engagement in “Islamic education, women’s rights, and resistance to the commodification of Kashmiri women in advertising and entertainment.”
Ties to the U.S., Texas?
The Investigative Project on Terrorism reports that Ghazala Habib, leader of the Texas-based “Friends of Kashmir” organization, acts as Andrabi’s representative in the United States. Habib, known for Islamist advocacy, allegedly operates within a global network of Islamist and Pakistani operatives in coordination with the Pakistani regime.
Not a Surprise
USCMO’s advocacy for DeM fits into a broader and well-documented pattern. Following the October 7, 2023, massacre committed by Hamas, the MEF documented how the USCMO and its affiliated organizations downplayed or contextualized Hamas’s crimes, rather than outright condemning them. In the statement, USCMO declared that “The recent unprovoked and continuous attacks by Israel on Palestinian towns, cities, and refugee camps have resulted in tragic loss of Palestinian lives.”
The USCMO has also praised Turkish President Erdoğan. In September 2019, USCMO’s Secretary General Oussama Jammal praised Erdoğan, saying that “You give us a sense of pride, an honor to meet a president and a leader and […] a wonderful human-being with patience, love, worries and cares for Muslim ummah.”
In 2022, USCMO’s Chairman Mohsin Ansari, an open partner of designated terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, praised President Erdoğan for his efforts to “champion oppressed Muslims around the world.” That he would say that about a strong man dictator who, according to the Brookings, Institute is responsible for ending liberal democracy in Turkey is striking.
Taken together, USCMO’s pattern of defending Islamist actors reveals its strategy. By selectively reporting on legal cases, omitting crucial information and distorting the facts, the organization constructs narratives supportive of violent and non-violent Islamist causes. Meanwhile, USCMO’s alignment with foreign Islamist leaders shows how the organization is using its influence in the United States.