Pakistan hits out at India for implicating Yasin Malik in more fictitious cases

The move forced Hurriyat leader to announce hunger strike unto death, says Foreign Office

Pakistan on Thursday strongly condemned India’s recent move of implicating Hurriyat leader Muhammad Yasin Malik in two more fictitious cases, which have been crafted around incidents that took place more than 30 years ago.

A statement from the Foreign Office said that the cases have been reopened under the draconian Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) in a clear attempt to perpetuate Yasin Malik’s political victimisation.

"Yasin Malik is already serving out a life sentence awarded to him after a sham trial by an Indian court on May 25, 2022," an FO spokesperson said.

Regrettably, the statement added, Yasin Malik is also being denied the right to personal appearance in the ongoing trial, in complete contravention of legal and democratic norms.

"Once again, India has employed the judiciary as a tool to damage the morale of the Kashmiris by making their true leadership a target of flagrant prejudice. Left with no legal recourse and faced with blatant denial of his rights, Malik has taken the desperate decision of going on a hunger strike unto death from 22 July 2022," he said.

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According to the statement, the inhuman incarceration of Yasin Malik, his sham trials under fabricated cases, his fallacious conviction and the malfeasant attempts at defiling the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiris for their right to self-determination as “terrorism” is nothing but further corroboration of India’s known credentials of being a serial violator of human rights and usurper of the fundamental rights of the Kashmiri people.

"The Kashmiris’ struggle for the right of self-determination is indigenous and cannot be dampened by the draconian strong-arm tactics of the Indian government," it added.

Pakistan urged the Indian government to refrain from victimising the true representatives of the Kashmiri people by way of inhuman detentions and implication in baseless cases.

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"India must release all political prisoners detained on trumped-up charges, stop human rights violations in IIOJK, and lift the brutal military siege."

Pakistan also called on the international community to take cognisance of India’s inhuman and illegal detention and treatment of Yasin Malik and ensure that the Kashmiris are given the opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination as espoused under the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and as per their own wishes.