SRINAGAR: Yasin Malik, the chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front-Yasin (JKLF-Y), mentioned in his affidavit to the UAPA tribunal that reviewed the ban on JKLF-Y that he gave up the “armed struggle” in 1994 to pursue the group’s goal of establishing a “United Independent Kashmir.” Instead, he chose to adopt a “Gandhian way of resistance.”
The UAPA Tribunal’s order, issued last month and published in the gazette on Thursday, upheld the designation of JKLF-Y as an ‘unlawful association’ under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, for an additional five years.
In his affidavit, Yasin claims that “through questionable factual assertions,” top political and government officials at the Centre have engaged with him since 1994 to seek a peaceful resolution to the Kashmir issue raised by separatists, Times of India reported.
The founder of JKLF-Y, Yasin is a key accused in the high-profile killing of four Indian Air Force personnel in Rawalpora area of Srinagar in 1990. Earlier this year, witnesses identified him as the primary shooter in the case.
Sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment in May 2022 for a terror financing case investigated by the NIA, Yasin claimed in his reply-cum-affidavit to the tribunal that “various state officials” assured him in the early nineties they would resolve the Kashmir dispute through meaningful dialogue and that once he initiated a unilateral ceasefire, all cases against him and members of JKLF-Y would be withdrawn.
On May 26, 2023, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) approached the Delhi high court seeking the death penalty for Yasin Malik. He informed that court that he wants to argue in person and defend himself in the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) plea seeking the death penalty for him in a terror funding case.
He declined a suggestion by a bench of justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Girish Kathpalia to appoint a lawyer of his own choice or an amicus to aid him in legal proceedings.
