ISLAMABAD: Human Right Minister Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada on Saturday condemned the conviction of Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik by an Indian court in a terrorism related case.

Yasin Malik has been charged with unlawful fundraising, sedition and criminal conspiracy.

The minister in his defence said that in the past, fake charges had been levelled in Indian courts against prominent leaders like Maqbool Bhatt and Afzal Guru that resulted in their execution. Now another prominent pro-freedom Kashmiri leader who had a huge following in Kashmir was on trial. “We suspect that the Indian government wants to get rid of him too. His life is in danger,” Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada said.

Minister urged international human rights organizations to take notice of this human rights violation in Kashmir. He said the allegations levelled against Yasin Malik were false, contrived and politically motivated. In addition to this, the act under which he was tried was in sheer violation of set principles of international law.

He maintained that people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) were fighting for their legitimate right to self-determination. “They are struggling for decades against Indian occupation. India can never curb Kashmiris’ struggle for their rights with force and brutality,” he argued.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2022