Yasin Malik: ‘Gandhian Now,’ JKLF-Y Banned for 5 Years

Yasin Malik Declares: ‘I’ve Given Up Arms, Now a Gandhian,’ Says to UAPA Tribunal

Separatist leader Yasin Malik informed the UAPA tribunal that since 1994, he has abandoned armed struggle and embraced the “Gandhian way of resistance.” Malik, founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front-Yasin (JKLF-Y), emphasized in his affidavit that he now follows non-violent resistance.

“I’ve given up arms, I’m a Gandhian now,” Malik stated in his affidavit as the tribunal reviewed the ban on JKLF-Y, which led armed militancy in the Kashmir Valley during the 1990s.

Malik explained that his decision to renounce violence was intended to promote a “united, independent Kashmir” but through peaceful means. The UAPA tribunal, in a recent order published in the official gazette, declared JKLF-Y an “unlawful organization” for the next five years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

Malik, who is currently serving a life sentence in Tihar Jail after being convicted in a terror funding case, is a prime accused in the 1990 killing of four Indian Air Force personnel in Rawalpora, Srinagar. Earlier this year, witnesses identified Malik as the main shooter in the case.

In addition to this, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in May 2022 for a terror financing case investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). In his affidavit, Malik claimed that in the early 1990s, several state officials assured him that the Kashmir dispute would be resolved through “meaningful dialogue.” He said he was promised that if he initiated a unilateral ceasefire, all charges against him and JKLF-Y members would be dropped.

However, the Centre, in its ban notification issued on March 15, 2024, and through statements from officers involved in JKLF-Y cases, argued that despite renouncing armed resistance in 1994, Malik continued to support and sustain terrorism.

Aakhir Tak Editor-in-Chief

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