A special tribunal of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Indian capital New Delhi has sentenced the iconic Kashmir independence leader Yasin Malik to life in prison in a case of financing “terrorism”.
Malik, one of India’s most prominent Kashmir rebel leaders, is now the leader of the now-banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). The group renounced violence in 1994.
The court prosecutor had asked for the death penalty for Malik.
Malik, 56, was convicted last week of “terrorist” acts, such as illegal fundraising, membership in a terrorist organization, criminal conspiracy and sedition.
The People’s Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a coalition of pro-India parties in the region, called Malik’s life sentence “unfortunate.”
“Yasin Malik’s life imprisonment is unfortunate and a setback for peace efforts. We fear that this will further aggravate uncertainties in the region and will only fuel more feelings of alienation and separatism,” the group said in a statement. Wednesday.
The “… court has handed down its verdict, but not justice,” the statement said.
Mobile internet services in some parts of the region’s main city, Srinagar, were suspended shortly after the anti-terrorism court announced the ruling in the Indian capital New Delhi.
Yasin Malik is one of Kashmir’s most prominent rebel leaders [File: Danish Ismail/Reuters]
During the trial, which Malik’s family and lawyers alleged was not fair, the Kashmir leader dismissed the charges and said he was a freedom fighter.
A statement issued by the JKLF following Malik’s conviction last week said the charges against him were “fabricated, fabricated and politically motivated”.
“If seeking aazadi (freedom) is a crime, I am willing to accept this crime and its consequences,” Malik told the judge in the statement.
Malik was arrested by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a “terrorist financing case” shortly after the JKLF was banned in 2019.
The agency accused him of receiving funds “from Pakistan to carry out terrorist activities and stone-throwing during the Kashmir riots, especially in 2010 and 2016.”
Yasin Malik’s wife, Mishal Malik, holds a poster as she attends a “Black Day” protest in Islamabad, Pakistan, against India-administered Kashmir rights violations [File: Akhtar Soomro/Reuters]
In August of the same year, New Delhi ruled out the special status of India-administered Kashmir and unilaterally divided the country’s only Muslim-majority region into two federally controlled territories.
The move was followed by months of military blockade and communications in the region and arrests of major political and rebel leaders.
Closing, anger in the valley
In several areas of the main town of Srinagar in the disputed region, shopkeepers lowered their shutters before sentencing Malik.
Dozens of women protested at Malik’s house in Maisuma before the verdict, shouting slogans: “Ye tamasha nahi hai, ye maatam sahi hai” (This is not a spectacle, this pain is a reality).
Protesters in Srinagar throw stones at Indian police amid tear gas fired by police during protest ahead of Malik’s conviction on Wednesday [Danish Ismail/Reuters]
Protests were reported in some areas of Srinagar as security forces patrolled the streets.
After the verdict was announced, members of Malik’s family told Al Jazeera that they were “shattered but could not utter a word.”
“He has entrusted his case to God,” said a relative of Malik, who did not want to be identified for fear of government retaliation.
Outside the #YasinMalik residence, the shops of commercial establishments remain closed before the verdict against the leader of the #Jammu and #Kashmir Liberation Front. Strong presence of armed police. pic.twitter.com/wgqPtPJv5G
– Azaan Javaid (zaAzaanJavaid) May 25, 2022
“Back to separatist politics”
Originally founded in the 1970s, the JKLF under Malik has repeatedly called for the independence of India-administered Kashmir from both India and Pakistan, which govern parts of the Himalayan territory but claim it in its entirety.
The two nuclear-armed nations have fought two of their three large-scale wars over territory. India accuses Pakistan of supporting the Indian-run armed rebellion in Kashmir. Islamabad denies the accusation, saying it only offers diplomatic and moral support to the rebels.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called for Malik’s acquittal. “The charges against him must be dropped. He must be released immediately and allowed to reunite with his family,” he said.
“India must also release all political prisoners and stop the heinous human rights violations” in the region, Bhutto-Zardari added.
In 1988, Malik was one of the first Kashmir rebels to cross the border into Pakistan to receive training for an armed rebellion against the New Delhi government that began in Indian-administered Kashmir the following year.
However, Malik disbanded the JKLF military wing in 1994 and announced his commitment to the ideas of nonviolent political struggle to achieve the independence of the iconic Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi.
A Kashmiri political commentator described Malik as “a more sensible voice among separatists” and said his condemnation was a “major setback for separatist politics” in the region.
“He did not avoid dialogue. Many hardline groups would make fun of him and laugh at his image as a Gandhian. But Malik continued with his Gandhian ideals and has entered into talks with both India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue, “the unidentified commenter told Al Jazeera.