Islamabad: Speakers at a conference in Islamabad strongly condemned the continued illegal detention and political persecution of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik, who remains imprisoned in New Delhi’s notorious Tihar Jail under fabricated charges.
According to Kashmir Media Service, organized by the JKLF under the theme “Save Yasin Malik Conference”, the event drew participation form political and Hurriyat leaders, human rights and civil society activists, journalists, and representatives of Kashmiri student organizations.
Muhammad Yasin Malik was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court in Delhi on May 25, 2022, at the behest of the Modi government, in a case widely seen as baseless and politically motivated. Plans are now reportedly underway to convert this life sentence into a death penalty.
In a joint declaration issued at the close of the event, participants urged the international community, particularly global human rights organizations, to take immediate notice of India’s attempts to convert Yasin Malik’s sentence into capital punishment. The declaration also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Yasin Malik and other prominent Kashmiri political prisoners including human rights defender Khurram Parvez, Masarrat Alam Butt, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Asiya Andrabi, Naeem Ahmad Khan, Ayaz Akbar, Pir Saifullah, Merajuddin Kalwal, Farooq Ahmad Dar, Shahid-ul-Islam, Naheeda Nasreen, and Fahmida Sofi, along with other Hurriyat leaders and activists held in various Indian jails.
The conference was presided over by JKLF Vice Chairman Saleem Haroon. The Speaker of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Chaudhry Latif Akbar, was the chief guest. The proceedings were moderated by JKLF spokesperson Muhammad Rafiq Dar.
According to a statement issued by the JKLF Central Information Office, special participants included Yasin Malik’s wife Mushaal Hussein Mullick, his daughter Razia Sultana, and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. Others who spoke at the conference included Raja Farooq Haider Khan, Ghulam Mohammad Safi, Mahmood Ahmad Saghar, Farhatullah Babar, Dr. Syed Nazir Gilani, Hamid Mir, Afzal Butt, Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan, Dr. Mushtaq Ahmed, Chaudhry M. Yasin, Amina Janjua, Abdul Rashid Turabi, Adv. Manzoor Qadir, Adv. Sardar Sagheer A. Khan, Altaf Hussain Wani, Nazim Bhatti, Sardar Rauf Kashmiri, Adv. Anis Jilani and Jawad Qayyum spoke on the occasion while as Mohammad Farooq Rahmani, along with Hurriyat leaders participated in the conference.
Besides the JKLF leaders Sardar Zahid Hussain, Khawaja Manzoor Ahmad Chishti, Sardar Javed Hanif, Sajid Siddiqui, Sardar M. Anwar Khan and SLF leaders Abdul Quddus Altaf and Anis Majeed, leaders of various journalist forums, editors of almost all newspapers of Azad Kashmir and representatives of electronic media attended the conference.
