https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Aasia_JeelaniAasia Jeelani - Revision history2026-08-07T21:40:46ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Aasia_Jeelani&diff=484094&oldid=prevGarnetWelton89 at 23:45, 26 July 20252025-07-26T23:45:40Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Kashmiri journalist and human rights activist}}<br />
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{{Use Indian English|date=July 2025}}<br />
'''Aasia''' (or '''Aasiya''') '''Jeelani''' (1974–2004) was a [[Kashmiris|Kashmiri]] journalist and human rights activist. After completing her studies in [[Srinagar]], [[Kashmir]], she worked for [[Agence France Presse]] (AFP) and then the [[Times of India]]. She set up the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) and the Kashmiri Women's Initiative for Peace and Disarmament (KWIPD), editing the latter's newsletter. On 20 April 2004, Jeelani and other activists were monitoring elections when the car she was travelling in was blown up by an [[improvised explosive device]] and she was killed. She is remembered as a pioneering feminist journalist.<br />
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==Life==<br />
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Aasia Jeelani was born on 9 February 1974, in [[Srinagar]], [[Kashmir]]. She was educated at the Presentation Convent Higher Secondary School, then completed a Ba in Science at [[Government College for Women, Nawakadal Srinagar]] followed by a MA in Journalism at [[Kashmir University]].<ref name="HRD Memorial">{{cite web |title=Aasia Jeelani |url=https://hrdmemorial.org/?hrdrecord=aasia-jeelani |website=HRD Memorial |access-date=12 September 2024}}</ref><ref name="ZW">{{cite web |title=Aasia Jeelani- A Kashmiri Feminist Trailblazer |url=https://zanaanwanaan.com/issues/aasia-jeelani-a-kashmiri-feminist-trailblazer/ |website=Zanaan Wanaan |access-date=3 October 2024 |date=5 December 2021}}</ref> She grew up during the [[insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir]] and began to write about the human rights abuses perpetrated by Indian soldiers. Between 1998 and 2001, she worked for [[Agence France Presse]] (AFP).<ref name="HRD Memorial" /><ref name="Tak">{{cite web |last1=Tak |first1=Mozaien |title=Aasiya Jeelani: The Feminist Warrior Of Kashmir |url=https://feminisminindia.com/2019/09/12/aasiya-jeelani-feminist-warrior-kashmir/ |website=Feminism in India |access-date=12 September 2024 |date=11 September 2019}}</ref> She then moved to Delhi to work at the [[Times of India]] before deciding to return to Kashmir and joining the [[Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society]] (JKCCS).<ref name="Tak" /> She set up the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) and the Kashmiri Women's Initiative for Peace and Disarmament (KWIPD).<ref name="Tak" /> She was editor of a newsletter which the KWIPD published every three months called ''The Voices Unheard''.<ref name="HRD Memorial" /><ref name="Tak" /><br />
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On 20 April 2004, Jeelani and other activists were monitoring elections near to the [[Line of Control]] at Chandigam in Kupwara district. The car she was travelling in was blown up by an [[improvised explosive device]] triggered by militants; she died, the driver was also killed and her colleague [[Khurram Parvez]] sustained serious injuries, having a leg amputated.<ref name="PO">{{cite news |title=Jailed human rights defender Khurram Parvez forged solidarities in suffering |url=https://pakobserver.net/jailed-human-rights-defender-khurram-parvez-forged-solidarities-in-suffering/ |access-date=10 September 2024 |work=Pakistan Observer |date=5 December 2021}}</ref><ref name="Forever">{{cite news |last1=Peer |first1=Basharat |title=Kashmir's Forever War |url=https://granta.com/kashmirs-forever-war/ |access-date=10 September 2024 |work=Granta |date=16 September 2010}}</ref><ref name="Obit">{{cite news |title=Obituaries |url=https://www.milligazette.com/Archives/2004/16-31May04-Print-Edition/1605200462.htm |access-date=10 September 2024 |work=The Milli Gazette |date=16–31 May 2004}}</ref><br />
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==Legacy==<br />
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Jeelani is remembered as a pioneering feminist journalist.<ref name="HRD Memorial" /> The Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society gave her an award named after [[Robert Thorpe (Indian Army officer)|Robert Thorpe]].<ref name="Cashmere">{{cite news |last1=Hamdani |first1=Hakim Shahzad Hussain |title=Cashmere's first fighter |url=https://www.nation.com.pk/09-Nov-2014/cashmere-s-first-fighter |access-date=10 September 2024 |work=The Nation |date=9 November 2014}}</ref> In 2013, the Coalition commemorated the death of Jeelani by bringing together human rights groups in order to discuss institutional violence. The meeting asked the United Nations to send an investigator to the region.<ref name="Rashid">{{cite news |last1=Rashid |first1=Afsana |title=UN intervention sought to check Human Rights violations |url=https://milligazette.com/news/Human-Rights/7210-un-intervention-sought-to-check-human-rights-violations/ |access-date=10 September 2024 |work=The Milli Gazette |date=18 May 2013 |language=en}}</ref><br />
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==References==<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeelani, Aasia}}<br />
[[Category:1974 births]]<br />
[[Category:2004 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:People from Srinagar]]<br />
[[Category:Kashmiri journalists]]<br />
[[Category:Asian feminists]]<br />
[[Category:Agence France-Presse journalists]]<br />
[[Category:The Times of India journalists]]<br />
[[Category:Deaths by improvised explosive device]]</div>GarnetWelton89