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An Indian court on Wednesday sentenced Kashmiri freedom fighter Yasin Malik to life imprisonment in an alleged terror funding case, prompting Pakistan’s Parliament and the armed forces to condemn Delhi’s “oppressive” tactics.
According to Indian media, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had sought the death penalty for the leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front. However, the court awarded him two life sentences and five 10-year terms of rigorous imprisonment to run concurrently. It also imposed an INR1 million fine on Malik.
The Kashmiri leader was convicted in a terror-funding case last week after he refused to contest any of the charges—including terrorism, sedition and criminal conspiracy—stating that he would not “beg” for mercy from the court. He had been in detention since 2019, when Delhi unilaterally abrogated the special constitutional status of India-held Kashmir.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Malik’s wife Mushaal Malik—who had been leading calls for her husband’s release—said the sentencing was illegitimate. “Verdict in minutes by Indian kangaroo court,” she said. “The iconic leader will never surrender,” she added.
Protesters that had gathered outside Malik’s house in Srinagar to demonstrate against the sentencing were dispersed by Indian police, who fired tear gas and rubber pellets on them.
Pakistan condemns
Describing the sentencing as a “black day” for India’s democracy and judiciary, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the ruling could never tarnish the idea of freedom symbolized by Malik. “Life imprisonment for valiant freedom fighters will provide fresh impetus to Kashmiris’ right to self-determination,” he wrote on Twitter.
Similarly, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari strongly condemned the unjust sentencing. “India can never silence Kashmiris’ voice for freedom and self-determination. Pakistan stands with Kashmiri brothers and sisters, will continue to provide all possible support in their just struggle,” he wrote on Twitter.
In a statement, the spokesman of Pakistan’s armed forces, Maj. Gen. Babar Iftikhar condemned the life sentence on “fabricated” charges. “Such oppressive tactics cannot dampen the spirit of people of Kashmir in their just struggle against illegal Indian occupation. We stand with them in quest for self-determination as per UNSCRs,” he added.
Earlier, the National Assembly had strongly condemned the conviction of Malik, saying his “mock trial” had “bypassed all local and international human rights laws.” In an address to the Lower House, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif called for a joint resolution to be passed against the Kashmiri leader’s conviction, saying “we will prove to Kashmiris that we are with them wholeheartedly.” Similarly, the Leader of the House in the Senate urged the international community to intervene and register their protest against the inhumane treatment of political prisoners in India-held Kashmir.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office, meanwhile, summoned the Indian Charge d’Affaires in Islamabad and conveyed “Pakistan’s strongest condemnation and rejection of the mala fide conviction” of Malik. In a statement, the Foreign Office said it was a “grossly suspicious and contrived case registered under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and Indian Penal Code, dating back to 2017, filed against him by the Indian National Investigation Agency.”
It said that the Indian diplomat had been conveyed the Government of Pakistan’s “strong indignation” over the sentencing of Malik after his conviction on “fabricated charges, denial of fair trial and inhuman incarceration despite his deteriorating health, in complete defiance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said that Malik’s sentencing was an “abhorrent” attempt by India to brand as terrorism the legitimate struggle of Kashmiris for their right to self-determination.