The government has decided to raise the conviction of Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik by an Indian court legally and on a diplomatic level, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issuing the directives to the law and human ministries and seeking an end to the trial.
Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a press conference on Saturday. She was accompanied by Yasin Malik’s wife Mushaal Mullick and his daughter.
A special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India on Thursday convicted Malik in the case, according to the Press Trust of India.
Special Judge Praveen Singh directed the NIA authorities to assess Malik’s socio-economic situation to determine the fine to be imposed. Arguments on the quantum of sentences will be heard on May 25.
Malik, who is the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chairperson, was arrested by the NIA in 2019 in connection with the case that it had opened in 2017, reported The Indian Express.
In its FIR, the NIA alleged that Kashmiri freedom fighters were receiving funds from Pakistan, including from Jamaat-ud-Dawah’s Hafiz Saeed, to foment trouble in the Indian occupied Kashmir through stone-pelting, burning down of schools, and organising strikes and protests.
In a statement on Thursday, the Foreign Office condemned the Indian court’s decision to convict Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik in a case related to alleged terrorism in the occupied region in 2017 and urged the government to refrain from victimising the representatives of the Kashmiri people.
Marriyum while quoting Indian media reports said Malik would be given capital punishment or life imprisonment in the “fake” terrorism cases on May 25. She was of the view that the court’s proceedings were against court and human rights laws. The information wondered how a peaceful Kashmiri leader was given an unfair trial.
The last time Mushaal met her husband was in September 2014 when their daughter was two-year-old and this year she turned 10-year-old.
“Pakistan will be a platform where his [Yasin Malik’s] words will reach the people,” Marriyum said in reaction to Malik’s video. The Kashmiri leader has maintained that he was not being given space to talk. The Indian government has violated legal justice and human rights law, according to the information minister.
“If India is not afraid then why it is afraid of one man’s [Yasin Malik] views and giving human rights,” she said and alleged that the case was being run on a fake trial. Moreover, she also blamed some Indian movies for running propaganda against Malik and using a “religious card” to create hatred.
“PM Shehbaz has directed human rights and law ministries to raise this issue on an international, diplomatic, and legal level by international treaty and agreements,” she said and paid tributes to martyred Kashmiri leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Afzal Guru, and Maqbool Butt.
The information minister condemned India’s August 5 actions, adding that Mushaal Mullick was not given space to speak with Yasin Malik. She demanded of the international community to take notice of the development, adding that the Kashmiri leader was not given chance to speak. Such Indian actions would not deter Kashmiri’s freedom struggle, she added.
Mushaal Mullick thanked the government for its support. “There have been many ups and downs in my life. But, this time my husband has been kept in the death cell of Tihar jail. He has no counsel access,” she said, accusing India of attacking the lawyers of Kashmiri leader.
She alleged that Malik’s mic was muted during the court proceedings, adding that the Kashmiri leader’s medical condition was not good and no healthcare was being provided.
“We are not victims. We are brave as my husband solely standing against India,” she said and demanded of the international community to conduct an independent investigation into it.
“I am living a life of a widow,” Malik said and demanded of the UN to declare her husband a “prisoner of conscience” and immediately release him from there. Michael demanded of the treasury and opposition to raising this issue.
