-Demonstrations held in Muzaffarabad, other cities of Azad Jammu and Kashmir against the victimization of the JKLF Chairman
Bureau Report
NEW DELHI: In the latest act of political vendetta against the Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders, a court of India’s notorious National Investigation Agency (NIA) officially convicted, Thursday, the illegally detained Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik, in a false case registered against him.
Special Judge of NIA court, Praveen Singh, directed the authorities of the probing agency to assess Yasin Malik’s financial situation to determine the amount of fine to be imposed and posted the matter for arguments on quantum of sentence on May 25.
The JKLF Chairman had told the court earlier that he was not contesting the charges levelled against him under various sections of draconian law, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), and Indian Penal Code including waging war against India.
During the trial, Malik protested the charges and said he was a freedom fighter.
“Terrorism-related charges leveled against me are concocted, fabricated and politically motivated,” his organization, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, cited him as telling the court.
“If seeking Azadi (freedom) is a crime, then I am ready to accept this crime and its consequences,” he told the judge.
The court had earlier also formally framed the charges against other APHC leaders including Masarrat Aalam Butt, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Syed Salahuddin, Advocate Shahid-ul-Islam, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Ayaz Muhammad Akbar, Raja Merajuddin Kalwal, Peer Saifullah, and businessman, Zahoor Ahmad Watali.
The JKLF Chairman was arrested by Indian police from his residence in Srinagar in February 2019 and was later shifted to New Delhi’s infamous Tihar Jail and still remains lodged there.
Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government arrested thousands of Kashmiris including Hurriyat leaders and activists before and after its illegal move of repealing the special status of IIOJK on August 05, 2019 and lodged them in different jails of occupied Kashmir and India. The Modi regime is victimizing them for opposing India’s illegal occupation of their homeland and demanding their UN recognized right to self-determination.
The APHC spokesman in a statement in Srinagar said India cannot force the Kashmiri leaders to surrender their just cause by using its kangaroo courts. He urged the world community, particularly the UN, to play a role in the release of Kashmiri political detainees to save them from India’s wrath.
Meanwhile, senior APHC leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, in a statement in Srinagar paid glowing tribute to prominent Kashmiri leaders, Mirwaiz Molvi Muhammad Farooq and Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone, and the martyrs of Hawal on the eve of their martyrdom anniversaries. He said the sufferings of the Kashmiri people and the sacrifices rendered by them in quest of the resolution of the Kashmir dispute constantly remind us that the conflict has to be resolved and the Kashmiris’ sentiment honored. Other APHC leaders including Ghulam Ahmad Gulzar and Molvi Bashir Ahmad Irfani in their statements said the Kashmiris will not allow the sacrifices of martyrs including Mirwaiz Molvi Farooq and Khawaja Ghani Lone to go waste and will accomplish their mission at all costs. APHC-AJK chapter in a seminar chaired by its Convener, Mohammad Farooq Rehmani, in Islamabad also paid homage to the Kashmiri martyrs.
On the other hand, complete shutdown will be observed on Saturday, May 21, to mark the martyrdom anniversaries of Mirwaiz Molvi Mohammad Farooq and Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone and martyrs of Hawal. Call for the shutdown has been given by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference which is also aimed at protesting against the illegal detention of Hurriyat leaders and activists lodged in different jails of IIOJK and India. People would visit the Martyrs’ Graveyard at Eid Gah in Srinagar to offer fateha for all the Kashmiri martyrs.
Indian police arrested five youth from Baramulla district and labeled them as mujahideen and over-ground workers of mujahid organizations.
Meanwhile, rallies and protest demonstrations were held in Muzaffarabad and other cities of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, against the victimization of the JKLF Chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik, by the Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government and his indictment in false cases. The protesters demanded immediate release of all illegally detained Kashmiris.
Meanwhile, APHC leader Advocate Devinder Singh Behl in a statement in Jammu slammed the Indian court for convicting JKLF chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik in a false trial. He said that Muhammad Yasin Malik was a political prisoner and India was taking unconstitutional steps to illegally remove the leaders of Kashmir freedom movement.
He deplored that Narendra Modi’s government had detained Kashmiri leaders in false cases after August 05, 2019 to suppress the ongoing freedom movement but it would never succeed in its nefarious designs.
He appealed to the international community to take steps to stop the illegal and unconstitutional actions of the Indian government and put pressure on India to immediately release the illegally detained Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders.
