By Sauro Dasgupta
PG 1 Student
Department of International Relations
Jadavpur University
The life sentence of Yasin Malik is a turning moment in Indian Political and judicial history. Here is a man who has blood of innocent Kashmiris and several persons on his hands, including 7 Air Force officers. This is a man who till 2014 called the shots in Kashmir and even shook hands with the former Prime Minister.
Malik had been patronized by the left-liberals, the ‘progressives’. They kept on shielding him to the last. He was invited to media conferences, seminars as Speaker or Guest of Honour. Any question to him from the audience was rebuffed.
Everybody knew how powerful Malik was. He got away with terrible acts. He held the Indian State at gunpoint and was extremely pro-Pakistan, much like his Hurriyat companions like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Every year, Yasin ensured that no discussion with Pakistan took place in the absence of the Hurriyat. He dictated peace terms to India, while having the gall to portray himself as an avatar of Gandhi, something which he reiterated in the court a few days ago.
After the trial of Yasin and his life imprisonment at Tihar Jail, several Kashmiri civilians were killed by Jihadi groups and allies of Yasin. That he was tried in New Delhi, the capital of India instead of his territory at LalChowk, Srinagar, where his writ prevailed, apparently could not be digested by such groups.
No sooner was Yasin’s punishment announced than the usual suspects, Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistani Ministers and several Pakistani influencers like ShahidAfridi sent messages of ‘solidarity’ to Yasin on Twitter. However, to their shock, their blue eyed boy could not be saved!
Ever since 2014, Modi government had given a free hand to the Military to tackle the terrorists. Operation All Out was also very successful. After the abrogation of Article 370, several terrorists were eliminated from Kashmir. The Kashmiri political elites, in cahoots with the likes of Yasin, could no longer hold the Indian State hostage. Their arm-twisting tactics could no longer work.
Many victims of Yasin’s atrocities have demanded the death sentence for him. The Kashmiri political parties have also tried to protect him from such punishment. But just as they failed to prevent the abrogation of Article 370, they will fail in this case also.
