Once Jawaharlal Nehru said, “Those who are prepared to die for any cause, are seldom defeated”. Today, we saw a practical example of it by the leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Yasin Malik, with his mind without fear and head held high. Yasin Malik, who has been the figurehead of the freedom struggle of the Kashmiris, sentenced to two concurrent life terms by a National Investigation Agency’s special court in Delhi on the 25th of May 2022 over the charges of abetting terrorism and waging the war against the Indian state under the numerous articles of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
While the notorious National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India was seeking the death penalty for Yasin Malik, the brave heart told the court that, “I don’t beg for anything”. As the case was before the court, so he left it to the court to decide it. Clearly, Yasin Malik expressed his disbelief over the court’s proceedings because he knew that the court had already decided his fate under govt’s pressure, but unfortunately, Indian media which always acts as a mouthpiece of the BJP, twisted his statement projecting it as pleading guilty to the charges levelled against him.
Malik was detained in May 2019, months before India, in a provocative decision, abrogated the special status of the occupied Kashmir valley. After three years of severe torture in prison, he was finally provided with this unpopular verdict that has traumatised millions of Kashmiris across the Line of Control (LoC), and the torchbearers of human rights and has spread an unadorned wave of anger among the already enraged Kashmiris around the world.
Malik had earlier made it clear that he had been following Gandhian principles of non-violent politics and abandoned arms in the 1990s. Despite his denial of charges, the court sentenced Yasin Malik for the offences punishable under the contentious and black laws, falling under the sections of 120B IPC, 121 IPC, 121A IPC, 13 UAPA r/w 120B IPC, 15 UAPA r/w 120B IPC, 17 UAPA, 18 UAPA, 20 UAPA, 38 UAPA, and 39 UAPA. The laws under which he was charged are long been debated among the vigilantes of human rights for their misuse against the freedom fighters and liberal voices in the country, especially in the occupied valley.
There have been various examples of misuse of this Act. In the past several journalists, politicians, and dissidents of the government of India were unfairly put in confinements and faced trials because of this Act. In 2021, a Christian, Father Stan Swamy, a Christian priest, and an activist died in jail at the age of 84. He was suffering from Parkinson’s disease and was indicted under this rigorous Act for delivering the seditious speech and his alleged links with a Maoist resurgence group in India.
Father Stan Swamy repetitively sought bail on medical grounds. But sadly, he was denied because of the harsh provisions of the UAPA. An international digital forensics agency examined the laptop of Stan Swamy which the NIA had seized, and reported that it was apparently hacked and planted with the obnoxious files. But still, the court did not take this report seriously and his poor health into consideration while denying his bail request.
The longing of the Indian government to use this Act to promote its political agenda has undermined the productivity of the investigations which proved to be detrimental in providing justice to the victims of this severe and inhuman law.
In July 2019, when the UAPA amendment bill was introduced by the BJP, Indian opposition parties, particularly the Congress leadership raised very serious concerns and termed this law draconian. The opposition claimed that the bill did not encompass any provisions to avoid its misapplication. Explicitly, the power to label an individual as a terrorist before being proven guilty by trial, and that the law basically allows the Indian state to carve out exceptions for its own wrongdoings under the garb of anti-terror operations.
The latest victim of this ruthless law is the head of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Yasin Malik. He is among the prominent Kashmiri figures blatantly castigating Indian brutal oppression against the unarmed and innocent civilians in Kashmir demanding their birthright, self-determination, and liberation from Indian illegal occupation. His voice had a global impact and an overwhelming international audience, perhaps raising his voice against the autocratic rule of the Indian state and exposing the barbarism of Indian occupant forces was the actual crime of Yasin Malik for which he was politically victimised by the Indian establishment using UAPA and IPC as a tool.
His illegitimate sentence by a Kangaroo court, set up by NIA will further supplement the indigenous Kashmir freedom struggle and will prompt the frustration among masses against the illicit rule of India in occupied Kashmir. Already thousands of people have gathered in Srinagar to protest against Yasin Malik’s illegal sentence and further mass gatherings are also expected in the coming days, putting the security of the volatile region on the brink.
This inhuman act will also compel other separatist movements to take up arms against the interloper Indian army while demoralising the peace-seeking factions and will be evinced as a setback for peace efforts between the neighbouring India and Pakistan.
The international community must also hold India accountable for using state machinery to target innocent civilians and silencing the dissenting voices under tyrannical rule. The country must also be questioned for using inhuman laws against the Kashmiris to promote its hegemonic and expansionist designs.
Shahid Farooq Abbasi
(The writer is a freelance journalist and researcher based in Islamabad. He can be reached at shahidfarooqabbasi@gmail.com)
While the notorious National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India was seeking the death penalty for Yasin Malik, the brave heart told the court that, “I don’t beg for anything”. As the case was before the court, so he left it to the court to decide it. Clearly, Yasin Malik expressed his disbelief over the court’s proceedings because he knew that the court had already decided his fate under govt’s pressure, but unfortunately, Indian media which always acts as a mouthpiece of the BJP, twisted his statement projecting it as pleading guilty to the charges levelled against him.
Malik was detained in May 2019, months before India, in a provocative decision, abrogated the special status of the occupied Kashmir valley. After three years of severe torture in prison, he was finally provided with this unpopular verdict that has traumatised millions of Kashmiris across the Line of Control (LoC), and the torchbearers of human rights and has spread an unadorned wave of anger among the already enraged Kashmiris around the world.
Malik had earlier made it clear that he had been following Gandhian principles of non-violent politics and abandoned arms in the 1990s. Despite his denial of charges, the court sentenced Yasin Malik for the offences punishable under the contentious and black laws, falling under the sections of 120B IPC, 121 IPC, 121A IPC, 13 UAPA r/w 120B IPC, 15 UAPA r/w 120B IPC, 17 UAPA, 18 UAPA, 20 UAPA, 38 UAPA, and 39 UAPA. The laws under which he was charged are long been debated among the vigilantes of human rights for their misuse against the freedom fighters and liberal voices in the country, especially in the occupied valley.
There have been various examples of misuse of this Act. In the past several journalists, politicians, and dissidents of the government of India were unfairly put in confinements and faced trials because of this Act. In 2021, a Christian, Father Stan Swamy, a Christian priest, and an activist died in jail at the age of 84. He was suffering from Parkinson’s disease and was indicted under this rigorous Act for delivering the seditious speech and his alleged links with a Maoist resurgence group in India.
Father Stan Swamy repetitively sought bail on medical grounds. But sadly, he was denied because of the harsh provisions of the UAPA. An international digital forensics agency examined the laptop of Stan Swamy which the NIA had seized, and reported that it was apparently hacked and planted with the obnoxious files. But still, the court did not take this report seriously and his poor health into consideration while denying his bail request.
The longing of the Indian government to use this Act to promote its political agenda has undermined the productivity of the investigations which proved to be detrimental in providing justice to the victims of this severe and inhuman law.
In July 2019, when the UAPA amendment bill was introduced by the BJP, Indian opposition parties, particularly the Congress leadership raised very serious concerns and termed this law draconian. The opposition claimed that the bill did not encompass any provisions to avoid its misapplication. Explicitly, the power to label an individual as a terrorist before being proven guilty by trial, and that the law basically allows the Indian state to carve out exceptions for its own wrongdoings under the garb of anti-terror operations.
The latest victim of this ruthless law is the head of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Yasin Malik. He is among the prominent Kashmiri figures blatantly castigating Indian brutal oppression against the unarmed and innocent civilians in Kashmir demanding their birthright, self-determination, and liberation from Indian illegal occupation. His voice had a global impact and an overwhelming international audience, perhaps raising his voice against the autocratic rule of the Indian state and exposing the barbarism of Indian occupant forces was the actual crime of Yasin Malik for which he was politically victimised by the Indian establishment using UAPA and IPC as a tool.
His illegitimate sentence by a Kangaroo court, set up by NIA will further supplement the indigenous Kashmir freedom struggle and will prompt the frustration among masses against the illicit rule of India in occupied Kashmir. Already thousands of people have gathered in Srinagar to protest against Yasin Malik’s illegal sentence and further mass gatherings are also expected in the coming days, putting the security of the volatile region on the brink.
This inhuman act will also compel other separatist movements to take up arms against the interloper Indian army while demoralising the peace-seeking factions and will be evinced as a setback for peace efforts between the neighbouring India and Pakistan.
The international community must also hold India accountable for using state machinery to target innocent civilians and silencing the dissenting voices under tyrannical rule. The country must also be questioned for using inhuman laws against the Kashmiris to promote its hegemonic and expansionist designs.
Shahid Farooq Abbasi
(The writer is a freelance journalist and researcher based in Islamabad. He can be reached at shahidfarooqabbasi@gmail.com)