Conviction and Repression: Yasin Malik and the Hindu Editorial on Separatism

After pleading guilty to all charges related to the financing of terrorism under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), it was imperative that separatist leader Yasin Malik, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, be arrested. life sentence As he was done by the NIA court. Malik’s checkered past includes serious allegations of involvement in the killing of Indian Air Force officers in 1990. It is another matter if Malik, who claims he has eschewed violence and has been part of several talks with the Indian government in peace talks since the middle. In the 1990s, he was convicted of all charges for making political statements and inciting sentiments to garner support for the separatist leadership in the Kashmir Valley. Yet, with the central government taking a tougher stance from 2019 on its handling of the separatist movement, it was already a foregone conclusion that the allegations against Malik would have been steadfastly followed. Among separatists, the JKLF is an organization committed to the independence of Kashmir, including parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which puts it on a collision course with the Indian government, even though Malik used violence as a means. claimed to have been abandoned. Early Response in the Valley Violence and protests intensified after Malik’s conviction, while security arrangements were made to prevent any further stir. Malik’s arrest and conviction, continues Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest And this Radical Syed Ali Shah Geelani dies suggest that the political face of Separatism has been neutralized in the valley.

Yet, this does not mean that the voices of separatism in the Valley have been suppressed. Terrorist incidents targeting law enforcement, security personnel and even Kashmiri Pandits continue to grow, and the absence of political leadership is expected to give way to more insurgency. This is a situation that should not be taken lightly. The Government of India’s decision to grant special status to Jammu and Kashmir along with the mainstreaming of Kashmir, its bifurcation into two union territories and the loss of the state, apart from the alienation with a politically appropriate approach to achieve There is also a complaint. The delimitation of electoral constituencies threatens to return to the Valley situation that prevailed during the violent 1990s. It is possible that Yasin Malik’s sentence, even if achieved through a judicial process, will be seen as an extension of the ongoing political repression in the Valley since 2019, and terrorist groups are certainly trying to portray it as such. will do. It is up to the central government to resume confidence building measures in the union territory. The return of the state and the reactivation of the democratic political process is a much-needed imperative.