Have quit 'armed struggle' in 1984, have turned Gandhian: Yasin Malik in court

NEW DELHI: Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front-Yasin ( JKLF-Y ) chairman Yasin Malik , in his affidavit submitted to the UAPA tribunal that reviewed the ban on JKLF-Y, claimed he gave up " armed struggle " in 1994 as a means to achieve JKLF-Y's object of establishing a "United Independent Kashmir", in favour of a " Gandhian way of resistance".

Yasin's affidavit-cited in the UAPA Tribunal's order issued last month and published in the gazette on Thursday, upholding the declaration of JKLF-Y as an 'unlawful association' under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, for a further five years-adds, "through questionable factual assertions", how top political and govt functionaries at the Centre have, since 1994, engaged with him to explore a peaceful settlement to the Kashmir issue raised by the separatists.

Yasin, who founded JKLF-Y in 1988, is a prime accused in the sensational killing of four Indian Air Force personnel at Rawalpora, Srinagar, in 1990, with witnesses having identified him as the main shooter earlier this year.

He was also sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life in May 2022 in a terror financing case probed by NIA.Yasin, in his reply-cum-affidavit to the tribunal, claimed that he was assured by "various state officials" in the early Nineties that they shall resolve the Kashmir dispute through a meaningful dialogue and that once he initiated a unilateral ceasefire, all cases against him and JKLF-Y members would be taken back.