COURTING TROUBLE

Kashmir braces as NIA seeks the death penalty for Yasin Malik

-  TARIQ BHAT

On May 26, the National Investigation Agency moved the Delhi High Court seeking the death penalty for Yasin Malik, the separatist leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, in a terror funding case. Three days later, the court ordered that Malik be produced before it on August 9 for defending himself.

Malik was charged with terror funding in 2017. He was arrested in April 2019 and sentenced to life imprisonment on May 24, 2022. Malik had refused to contest the charges.

Now, the news of the NIA seeking the death penalty for Malik has evoked sharp reactions in Kashmir. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference, former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, Sajad Lone of the J&K People’s Conference and Altaf Bukhari of the J&K Apni Party called it “deeply disturbing’’.

“In India where even the assassins of a prime minister were pardoned, the case of a political prisoner like Yasin Malik must be reviewed and reconsidered,” said Mufti. “The new political ikhwan (renegades) gleefully supporting his hanging is a grave threat to our collective rights.” She was reacting to an initial statement by Bukhari that those who threaten national security should be deterred. However, after an outcry, Bukhari took a U-turn and appealed to the Union government to reinvestigate the case against Malik. “The NIA is being hasty by approaching the Delhi High Court for the death penalty,” he said.