rki.news
Altaf Hamid Rao
MIRPUR (AJK), Sept. 20: The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF-Yasin) has strongly condemned what it described as the false implication of its incarcerated chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik in a 36-year-old murder case involving Sarla Bhat, a local Kashmiri Pandit woman.
In a statement issued by the party’s central information office, JKLF chief spokesman Muhammad Rafiq Dar said that during Saturday’s hearing in the Additional Sessions Court Srinagar, advocate Abu Adil Pandit, on Malik’s directions, submitted an application seeking permission to withdraw his power of attorney (vakalatnama).
The spokesman said Malik had denied the accusation and decided not to contest the case, citing what the party described as false implication.
Dar said a 25-page affidavit recently submitted by Malik before the court had presented his position on the case and questioned why authorities had not filed the charge against him during the past 36 years.
According to the statement, Malik also discussed his efforts to bring back members of minority communities and argued that the exodus of the Pandit community in January 1990 was a government conspiracy executed by then Jammu Kashmir Governor Jagmohan.
During Saturday’s hearing, Malik confirmed the details contained in his affidavit and said the decisions mentioned were his own, including his decision not to contest the Sarla Bhat case.
The JKLF also expressed concern over the continued stalemate in the AJK situation, saying it had reached a critical point. Dar reiterated the party’s position that dialogue, rather than force, was the way to resolve the issues.
The spokesman said the JKLF was ready to play a mediating role if both sides agreed to resolve the crisis through dialogue.
Meanwhile, the JKLF expressed grief over the death of Sheikh Abdul Rauf, elder brother of Sheikh Abdul Mateen, former General Secretary of the All Parties Conference and a central leader of the Muslim League Jammu & Kashmir, in Srinagar.
According to the statement, Abdul Rauf died at a local hospital following a short illness and was buried at his ancestral graveyard at Aastan-e-Aaliya in Batamaloo after funeral prayers.
JKLF leaders offered prayers for the deceased and patience for his family, the statement concluded.
