The National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Wednesday sentenced Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik to lifetime imprisonment in a terror funding case. 

The NIA had sought the death penalty before a Delhi court for Malik. The 56-year-old Kashmiri separatist leader had earlier pleaded guilty to charges including those under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), in a terror funding case, court sources said, as per PTI. 

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The agency told Special Judge Praveen Singh in an in-chamber proceedings that Malik was responsible for the Kashmiri exodus.

Yasin Malik, had said that he would not “beg” for mercy, and that court could decide at its discretion.

 “I have already given my words in the court and now it is the court’s discretion,” he said. 

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The court had convicted the 56-year-old for offences punishable under sections 120B IPC, 121 IPC, 121A IPC, 13 UAPA r/w 120B IPC, 15 UAPA r/w 120B IPC, 17 UAPA, 18 UAPA, 20 UAPA, 38 UAPA and 39 UAPA.

Who is Yasin Malik?

A former militant, Yasin Malik is an advocate for the separation of Kashmir from both India and Pakistan. He currently leads the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front. 

After attempting to disrupt an India vs West Indies cricket match in 1983, disturbing National Conference gatherings in Srinagar and protesting Kashmiri separatist leader Maqbool Bhat’s execution, Malik renounced violence in 1994. 

In 1987, Malik’s Islamic Students League joined the Muslim United Front (MUF). The party did not contest for a seat in the Legislative Assembly elections. However, he campaigned for the MUF candidate Mohammad Yusuf Shah who stood for the 1987 elections from Amirakadal, Srinagar. 

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He and Yusuf Shah were arrested by the police and imprisoned until the end of 1987 without a formal charge after an allegedly rigged election. Scholars suggest that the polls triggered the Kashmir insurgency.  

“Let me clear it, rigging in 1987 elections didn’t result in armed militancy. We were there even before 1987,” Malik had said then.