SRINAGAR -UNS : Imprisoned Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik has refused to contest the case against him further, saying he has no expectation of receiving justice from the Indian judicial system.
In a 25-page affidavit submitted before a Srinagar court, Malik said he had decided to leave his fate to God and was prepared to accept even the death penalty for the Kashmir cause. He alleged that the Indian government was attempting to implicate him in a fabricated case dating back 36 years.
Malik categorically denied any involvement in the 1990 abduction and murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat. He argued that he could not have planned or ordered the crime because he had been injured 11 days before Bhat’s murder.
He said his refusal to continue defending himself was a protest against what he described as political victimisation. Malik stressed that accepting any sentence imposed by the court should not be interpreted as an admission of guilt.
The Kashmiri leader also questioned the evidence allegedly connecting him to the case, including a Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front note reportedly recovered near Bhat’s body.
In the affidavit, Malik further alleged that Indian investigative agencies had once encouraged him to establish contacts with Pakistan but later used those alleged links as evidence against him.
Malik maintained that the proceedings were politically motivated and expressed deep distrust in the possibility of a fair trial. Indian forces arrested him in Srinagar on April 10, 2019, and he has remained in custody since then.
