NIA had sought the death penalty for the separatist leader who was convicted on May 19. On May 10, Malik had told the court that he was not contesting the charges levelled against him
Our Bureau
New Delhi/Srinagar
In a shocking allegation, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Thursday said that separatist leader Yasin Malik, who was convicted in a terror funding case, was nurtured by the Congress party. Mishra put forth his stance and targeted the party leaders for not reacting over life sentence to Yasin Malik. “Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Digvijay Singh’s tweet on Yasin Malik did not come. Congress nurtured Yasin Malik has been convicted by the court, he himself has accepted the murder on TV,” he said.
Malik was sentenced to life imprisonment twice (one for waging war against the nation and one in UAPA sec 17 raising fund for terror act).
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Wednesday awarded life imprisonment to Yasin Malik, a separatist leader from Jammu and Kashmir, in a terror funding case. The NIA court while sentencing life imprisonment to Malik also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh. He was sentenced to life imprisonment twice (one for waging war against the nation and one in UAPA sec 17 raising fund for terror act).
NIA had sought the death penalty for the separatist leader who was convicted on May 19. On May 10, Malik had told the court that he was not contesting the charges levelled against him that including Section 16 (terrorist act), 17 (raising funds for the terrorist act), 18 (conspiracy to commit terrorist act) and 20 (being a member of terrorist gang or organization) of the UAPA and sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 124-A (sedition) of the IPC.
The Special NIA Judge Praveen Singh on Wednesday while sentencing JKLF leader Yasin Malik to life imprisonment in a terror funding case said, in his opinion, there was no reformation of the convict.
“It may be correct that the convict may have given up the gun in the year 1994, but he had never expressed any regret for the violence he had committed prior to the year 1994 and still remained engaged in violent acts,” the judge said. “It is to be noticed that, when he claimed to have given up the path of violence after the year 1994, the government of India took it upon its face value and gave him an opportunity to reform and in good faith, tried to engage in a meaningful dialogue with him and as admitted by him, gave him every platform to express his opinion, said NIA Judge Praveen Singh.
“I must observe here that the convict cannot invoke the Mahatma and claim to be his follower because, in Mahatma Gandhi’s principles, there was no place for violence, howsoever high the objective might be. It only took one small incident of violence at Chauri Chaura for the Mahatma to call off the entire non-cooperation movement but the convict despite large scale of violence engulfing the valley neither condemned the violence nor withdrew his calendar of protest which had led to the said violence,” the court further observed.
The NIA court further said that the crimes for which Malik was convicted were of a very serious nature. These crimes were intended to strike at the heart of the idea of India and intended to forcefully secede J-K from the Union of India.
Kashmiri Pandits protest killing of Rahul Bhat
As the protest against the targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir valley entered its 10th day on Saturday, Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag tonsured their heads in protest. The protesters were seen shaving off their heads and raising slogans against the administration.
The killing of Rahul Bhatt, a Kashmiri Pandit and government employee on May 12 this year, triggered protests by locals wherein teargas shells were used to disperse the protesters.
Following the protest, the J-K government constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the murder. Bhatt, an employee of the Tehsil office in the Budgam district’s Chadoora, was shot dead by terrorists in Budgam on Thursday.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday met Kashmiri Pandits who staged protests against the killing of Chadoora Tehsil Office employee Rahul Bhat to offer his condolences and assured them a resolution of their grievances.
After meeting Sinha, Kashmiri Pandit Employees said that the talks will continue.
“Demand relocation to safe places outside the Kashmir valley, will not join duty until the demand is met. Protest will continue,” they said.
