Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to view jailed separatist Yasin Malik’s case through a ‘humanitarian’ lens. Among other charges, Malik was one of the key JKLF leaders who had kidnapped Rubaiya Sayeed, Mehbooba's sister in 1989.
“While I differ with his political ideology, one cannot ignore the courage it took him to renounce violence and choose the path of political engagement and non violent dissent,” Mehbooba Mufti said sharing the three-page letter on his X account.
Malik is currently lodged in Tihar Jail. The government alleges that Yasin Malik, sentenced to life imprisonment in 2022, was involved in activities that were a threat to the country’s sovereignty and was closely linked to militancy in J&K.
In 1989, Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of the then Home Minister and Mehbooba Mufti's father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, was kidnapped by separatistsin Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir when she was returning home from a medical college where she was pursuing MBBS. The kidnappers demanded the release of five jailed members of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) in exchange for Sayeed's release.
"I write to you not merely as a witness but as someone who has lived through the turbulent times of Jammu and Kashmir, bearing its grief, enduring its silences and holding on to its fragile hopes. This letter is written not in defiance but in faith, faith in the promise of reconciliation and in the belief that this great nation, even in its most challenging moments, can still choose healing over hurt," Mufti writes in the letter.
The Union government headed by Prime Minister VP Singh of the Janata Dal party, with outside support from the BJP, agreed to the demands and induced the state government to release the jailed militants.
In 2004, the JKLF admitted its role in the kidnapping and the court case is ongoing. In July 2022, Rubaiya identified Yasin Malik, one of the key leaders of JKLF at that time, as one of her kidnappers.
While I differ with his political ideology, one cannot ignore the courage it took him to renounce violence and choose the path of political engagement and non violent dissent.
Rubaiya Sayeed, the third daughter of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was then 23 years old, and a medical intern at Lal Ded Memorial Women's Hospital.
Mehbooba earnestly appeals to Amit Shah esteemed office for "a compassionate and urgent review of the case of Yasin Malik, a name that once symbolised resistance, later chose restraint, and now remains silent behind prison walls."
"What matters most is the profound transformation he undertook and the trust he placed in the state when he renounced violence and chose the path of political engagement and non-violent dissent," the letter reads.
The PDP chief claims that her appeal does not seek to undermine the judiciary's authority but calls for the responsible exercise of democratic instruments to honour both justice and mercy.
"I humbly request you to initiate a compassionate and considered review of Yasin Malik's case, Closing the door forever on a man who once chose peace risks shattering the fragile trust essential for meaningful dialogue," she says.
On August 11, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sought the death penalty for the separatist leader in a terror funding case. The court granted Yasin Malik four weeks to file his response and posted the matter for November 10.
