The Chairman of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by an NIA court in Delhi has been confined to a solitary cell under tight security, News Agency PTI reported Thursday.
Yasin Malik’s conviction in a 2017 case was a foregone conclusion. There is a parallel case in which he is accused of the brutal killing of four Indian Air Force officers.
Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh awarded two life sentences and varying jail terms, which will all run concurrently, and a fine of Rs 10,65,000 for offenses under the stringent anti-terror law — Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) — and the IPC.
Akhand Pratap, Amicus Curiae in the case, appointed by the court went public to say that Yasin Malik was adamant to not contest the charges. He also said that he met the JKLF chairman twice, but Yasin refused to contest the charges.
Yasin Malik on May 10 told the NIA court that he will not contest any charges levelled against him by prosecuting agency NIA.
“I met him three times in jail. Twice before sentencing and once after that. I explained to him the legal aspects of the case and the consequences of him pleading guilty but he was adamant that he will not contest charges,” Akhand Pratap was quoted as NDTV as saying.
Yasin Malik told the court that he had given up the gun and had been following the principles of non-violence since. He also said that if the NIA was able to prove any charges against him, he will quit politics. Malik told the court that he will not “beg” for justice. “I have worked with seven Prime Ministers of India and I have a legacy so while sentencing me, calculate the time which I have already spent in jail,” Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik stated in open court.
The charges levelled against him included section 16 (terrorist act), 17 (raising funds for terrorism), 18 (conspiracy to commit terrorist act) and 20 (being member of terrorist gang or organisation) of the UAPA and sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 124-A (sedition) of the IPC.
Legal Experts say Yasin Malik can challenge the order of the court in the Supreme Court of India under the section 375 of CrPC. Though Yasin, on 25 May, denied the allegations levelled against him, experts believe, his earlier statements to the court have made the judge pass the sentence against the incarcenated JKLF chief.
Yasin can challenge the court decision under Section 401 of the CrPC.
Who is Yasin Malik?
Yasin Malik, originally a resident of the Kokernag area in south Kashmir’s Anantnag shifted to densely populated Maisuma locality of Srinagar in ’80s.
In 1980, after witnessing an altercation between the army and taxi drivers, he is said to have changed him forever. Few youngsters from Srinagar areas formed a party called the Tala Party, which later became the Islamic Students League. The party was alleged to be involved in attempting to disrupt the 1983 cricket match with West Indies in the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium.
Yasin also campaigned for the Muslim United Front (MUF) in the assembly elections of 1987. However, the elections were rigged and all the top campaigners of MUF including Malik were detained.
He along with Hamid Sheikh, Ashfaq Wani, and Javed Ahmad Mir, formed the core group of JKLF known as the “HAJY” group.
After release from prison, Yasin Malik crossed over to Pakistan to receive arms training. He returned to the Kashmir Valley in 1989 as a core member of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). He along with Hamid Sheikh, Ashfaq Wani, and Javed Ahmad Mir, formed the core group — dubbed the “HAJY” group. The group kidnapped Rubiya Sayeed, the daughter of Indian Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to demand the release of their arrested colleagues. Yasin Malik is facing trial for the kidnapping of Rubaiyya Sayeed.
Yasin Malik during his militancy years is accused of several killings. Yasin Malik and six accomplices were charged under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), the Arms Act 1959, and Ranbir Penal Code for the attack on 40 Indian Air Force personnel in Rawalpora, Srinagar on 25 January 1990. During the attack, four IAF personnel died. The trial is underway in a court in Jammu.
By the end of March 1990, Ashfaq Majeed Wani was killed during an encounter and in August 1990, Yasin Malik was captured in a wounded condition. Hamid Sheikh was also captured in 1992. By 1992, the majority of the JKLF militants were killed or captured by forces or Hizbul Mujahideen.
Yasin Malik was released from prison on bail in May 1994, after which he declared an indefinite ceasefire of the JKLF.
After the announcement of the ceasefire, Malik has had one-on-one meetings with the Indian Prime Minister, President of Pakistan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, and other world leaders. In 2007, Malik and his party launched a campaign known as Safar-i-Azadi (Journey of Freedom) which lasted for over one year.
In 2005, a rival faction of Yasin Malik inside JKLF formed a separate organisation “JKLF(R)”. Javed Mir is its convener.
In February 2013, Yasin shared the stage with the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed at a protest in Islamabad, Pakistan which evoked massive anger in India. His passport was also snatched.
Yasin Malik, 56, is lodged in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail after he was arrested under the Public Safety Act in March 2019, but a month later his custody was shifted to National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a two-year-old case of “militant and separatist funding”.