India charges Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik

 

India charges Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik The State Investigation Agency in Indian-administered Kashmir has filed a 737-page charge sheet in connection with the 1990 abduction and killing of Sarla Bhat, a Kashmiri Pandit nurse. The filing names Yasin Malik, then a leading commander of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, and four associates as accused in the case. According to media reports citing officials, the investigation into the decades-old case was reopened in 2024 before the charge sheet was filed this week. Malik’s lawyer, Adil Pandit, rejected the allegations, saying, “Nothing has been proven against Yasin Malik in this charge sheet, and it is an attempt to grab headlines using his name.” Imam Muhammad Abdul Jabbar, Kashmir Action team lead, said the extraordinary delay raises serious due process concerns. After more than three decades, witness memories can fade, key people may no longer be available and evidence must be carefully scrutinized, he said. “A 737-page charge sheet is not proof of guilt,” Abdul Jabbar said. “What matters is whether the witnesses are credible and whether the evidence is authentic.”