JKLF Chief Yasin Malik Files Affidavit Denying Murder Charge, Requests Death Penalty

A new affidavit by Yasin Malik, the chief of the banned militant outfit Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), which has kept Kashmir on the boil for decades of violence, terror and separatism, has come out. The document filed in court is part of the legal process, but its language and presentation has raised a larger political question - is Malik defending himself in court or trying to save his image in history? Malik has denied his role in the Sarla Bhatt murder charges. He has also said that he will no longer challenge the trial proceedings and has asked the court for the death penalty for himself. But in the same affidavit, he has also made it clear that his decision not to contest the case should not be construed as an admission of guilt. That is, not an admission of guilt, but an offer to accept death. This contradiction is not simple. This is the point where a legal document takes the form of a political message. The affidavit mentions wife, daughter, mother, faith, sacrifice and suffering in detail. What should be the personal anguish or the humane judgment against Malik?