On August 8, 2024, one of the most recognizable leaders of Kashmiri resistance movement, Mohammad Yasin Malik, Chairman Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, appeared virtually before Delhi High Court for court proceedings. Mr. Malik had pleaded to be produced physically before the court and had objected to conduct proceedings through virtual mode. But the court rejected his plea. National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India is asking for death penalty of Mr. Malik. The next hearing will be on September 19, 2024. One wonders what his crime is.
Earlier trial court had said that crimes committed by Malik struck at the ‘heart of the idea of India’ and were intended to forcefully secede Jammu and Kashmir from the union of India. Associated Press reported that Yasin Malik said during the trial, “Terrorism-related charges leveled against me are concocted, fabricated and politically motivated” and that “If seeking Azadi (Freedom) is a crime, then I am ready to accept this crime and its consequences.”
It is a historical fact that Mr. Malik actively campaigned for the candidates of the Muslim United Front (MUF) during the election 1987. It is universally accepted that the Indian machinery grossly rigged the 1987 elections to install the puppet Farooq Abdullah Government in Kashmir. That became the catalyst for a number of Kashmiris, including Mr. Malik and his close associates to start an uprising against the Indian occupation. Armed revolt against the illegal Indian occupation then erupted in 1988. Malik picked up the gun against Indian rule. He was wounded and captured in a battle in August 1990. In media interviews, he has maintained that he was driven to “armed struggle” because the Indian state did not allow any space for non-violent protests. However, in 1994, a delegation headed by Ambassador Kuldip Nayyar who was sent by Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao to meet with Mr. Malik, assured him that all cases will be dropped against him if he renounces violence. Later, Ambassador Kuldip Nayyar wrote in Redfiff.com on August 7, 1999, ‘The first militant, Yasin Malik, who raised his gun at a public meeting in the heart of Srinagar, has turned nonviolent and vegetarian. Now he is a follower of Mahatma Gandhi.’
Bharat Bhushan, a seasoned Indian journalist, who wrote in ‘The Telegraph’ on February 4, 2007, “The president of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), one of the first to wield the gun in Kashmir, is today training youngsters in non-violent politics. He uses a curious mixture of religion — Sufism — and non-violence in an attempt to build a constituency for peace in Jammu and Kashmir.”
It is worth mentioning here that Dr. Shri Prakash in his book, ‘Twenty Tumultuous Years Insights into Indian Polity’ on page 568 writes, “The Kashmiri anger actually began with the mass rigging of elections in 1987. There is no use putting life in a corpse. Kashmiri leaders from Farooq Abdullah downwards have lost their credibility, they are totally irrelevant.” And, Amy Waldman wrote in the New York Times on August 24, 2002 that “Rigged elections in Kashmir in 1989 helped trigger the armed uprising that India estimates has taken more than 35,000 lives.”
Now, coming back to the ridiculous assertion of trial court that ‘crimes committed by Malik were intended to forcefully secede Jammu and Kashmir from the union of India.’ It might be asked since when has Jammu and Kashmir become part of India. Is not it a fact that under all U.N. Security Council resolutions agreed between India and Pakistan, endorsed by the Security Council, Kashmir does not belong to any member state of the United Nations? If Kashmir does not belong to any member state of the United Nations, then the claim of trial court that Mr. Malik intended to secede from India does not stand. “Terrorism-related charges leveled against me are concocted, fabricated and politically motivated” and that “If seeking Azadi (Freedom) is a crime, then I am ready to accept this crime and its consequences,” Yasin Malik said during the trial, reported by Associated Press.
It may be an eye-opening experience for trial court judge to know the following. “A lady asked me other day, ‘Why Gorbachov would not agree to the Lithuanian demand for independence from the Soviet Union?’ I countered with the question: ‘Do you believe that Kashmir belongs to India?’ ‘Yes, of course’ she said. ‘That is why?’ I said, ‘There are too many Russians who wrongly believe that Lithuania belongs to the Soviet Union, just as you believe that Kashmir belongs to India,’” – Minoo Masani, Former Indian Ambassador to Brazil, Dalit Voice, Bangalore, Aug. 1, 1990.
The plan and intentions of the current fascist regime are more sinister when it comes to the case of Yasin Malik. The International community must take cognizance of that historical behavior of India. By eliminating peace-loving leaders like Yasin Malik, the Indian regime is closing any avenues of peace in the region and pushing the youth of Kashmir towards actions that can be detrimental to the peaceful resolution of Kashmir conflict.
We appeal to the United Nations and other world powers, including Biden Administration to shed their protracted silence and earnestly impress upon the Indian government to let international standards of justice prevail and free Mohammad Yasin Malik.
Dr. Fai is also Secretary General, World Kashmir Awareness Forum.
