Why Has Yasin Malik Been Sentenced To Life Now?

A former militant commander, Yasin Malik gave up guns in 1994. So, why has he been sentenced to life now?

- Tariq Bhat

On May 25, a National Investigation Agency court convicted Yasin Malik and sentenced him to two life terms. Malik is the leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), which seeks independence for Jammu and Kashmir from India and Gilgit-Baltistan from Pakistan. Apart from the two life sentences that will run concurrently, Malik has to pay a fine of ₹10.65 lakh for funding terrorists and violating sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code.

Malik’s conviction has been hailed by some observers as a victory against separatism in Kashmir. The reality, however, is more complex.

Malik, 56, grew up at Maisuma, a densely populated neighbourhood in Srinagar, and studied arts at Sri Pratap College, Kashmir’s oldest institute of higher education. A violent altercation in Srinagar between cab drivers and security forces in 1980 provoked him to take the political plunge. He joined the Tala Party, a separatist group of mostly young people that stoked public anger by staging protests, such as the one in Srinagar in 1984 against the hanging of JKLF founder Maqbool Bhat.

In 1986, the party renamed itself the Islamic Students’ League, and Malik became its general secretary. The league campaigned for the Muslim Mutahida Mahaz (Muslim United Front, or MUF), a separatist coalition that challenged the dominant National Conference in the 1987 assembly polls. But the elections were rigged, the NC retained power, and MUF leaders and supporters were arrested and tortured.