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Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik was sentenced to life in jail by a special Delhi court on Wednesday, three days after convicting him on charges of terror funding and waging war against the nation.
Before the court verdict was delivered in the evening, protests erupted in Kashmir in support of the Chairman of the proscribed JKLF. Supporters of Malik clashed with security forces at his residence at Maisuma locality, which is near the Lal Chowk city centre of Srinagar.
Police fired tear gas and resorted to a lathi charge to bring the agitating crowd in control, as other separatist leaders described the court judgement as a "setback" to peace initiatives in the Jammu and Kashmir.
National Investigating Agency (NIA) designated special court Judge Praveen Singh handed the life term to Malik on two counts of offences committed under Section 121 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with waging war against India, and Section 17 of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), for raising funds for terrorist activities . The NIA, however, had sought the death penalty against Malik, who had pleaded guilty against all the charges levelled against him by the NIA. All the sentences, as per the court order, will run concurrently.
The court also awarded Malik varying jail terms for other offences under the UAPA and the IPC. A fine of over Rs 10 lakh was also imposed on the separatist leader.
Malik's wife Mushaal Hussein Mullick took to twitter to share her comment: "Verdict in minutes by Indian kangaroo court".
Earlier, the JKLF chief had told the court that he was following Gandhian principles and non-violent politics in Kashmir since giving up arms in 1994. The separatist leader, during the course of hearing, also tried to argue that the previous BJP regime had treated him differently. "I was arrested within 30 minutes of Burhan Wani's encounter. Atal Bihari Vajpayee allotted me a passport and India allowed me to make a statement because I was not a criminal," Yasin Malik told the court.
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