ISLAMABAD, Feb 22: Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, who spent most of his adult life in Indian jails, married Britain-born Pakistani artist Mushaal Mullick, in Rawalpindi on Sunday and declared that the marriage would not deter him from the freedom struggle.

“It is said Allah fulfils the wishes made at the time of Nikah, so I pray for an amicable solution to the Kashmir problem which has been causing so much misery to the people of Kashmir, Pakistan and India since 1947,” Yasin Malik, 42, said.

The 28-year-old bride, who holds a degree from the London School of Economics, expressed a similar commitment to the Kashmiri cause. She said: “I will support my husband in his non-violent struggle and noble mission.”

Noticeable among the prominent people who attended the ceremony was Amanullah Khan, chairman of his own faction of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front. Yasin Malik, who suffered torture at the hands of Indian agencies, had parted ways with the militant JKLF to wage a non-violent struggle. Surprisingly, an Indian diplomat was also there.

Mr Malik, clad in traditional Kurta-Shalwar, thanked guests, among them politicians, retired military generals and diplomats, for attending the function.

Ms Mullick said she had mixed feelings: “I am … happy, and sad because I am missing my late father.”

Prominent among those who attended the function were: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar, President of Azad Kashmir Raja Zulqarnain Khan, former AJK president Sardar Abdul Qayyum, former federal minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, former ISI chiefs Lt-Gen (retd) Hameed Gul and Lt-Gen (retd) Asad Durrani, Lt-Gen (retd) Aziz, Sardar Khalid Ibrahim, Justice (retd) Majeed Malik, Abdul Rashid Turabi and press secretary to the Indian High Commission in Pakistan.

The JKLF chief is reported to have met Ms Mullick at a conference in Pakistan two years ago. They were engaged in October last year. The bride is daughter of Rehana Hussain, former chief of the women’s wing of Muslim League. Her father, late M.A. Hussain Mullick, was a renowned economist.

This is the third high-profile cross-border wedding after Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who married a US citizen of Kashmiri origin and Sajjad Ghani Lone, who wed the daughter of JKLF leader Amanullah Khan. The bride is known for her risqué art which captures the raw beauty of the “feminine mystique”.