By Imran Nasir

ISLAMABAD - A prominent Kashmiri leader Mushaal Hussein Mullick has urged the Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandi to play his role to initiate debate in the parliament to provide basic health facilities to her incarcerated husband Yasin Malik.

In a letter, addressed to Mr. Gandi, Mullick said that her husband Mohammad Yasin Malik is languishing in a god forsaken Delhi prison, awaiting trial in a 3 decades old sedition case in which NIA has demanded death sentence against him. 

“The impact of incarceration on his health is a matter of public knowledge and the fact that he is being subjected to inhumane conditions is substantiateable from all available legal records,” she wrote in her letter.

“He is being denied the fundamental right to medical examination by a doctor of his own choice and is being administered medicines which are counterproductive to his health.”

 To protest against the inhuman behavior and treatment of Indian authorities, Malik has gone on an indefinite hunger strike from earlier this month.

The following is transcript of her letter

To,
Shri Rahul Gandhi Ji,
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, India.

I hope this letter finds you in the best of your health and highest spirits. I write to you today at a point in time when, my husband Mohammad Yasin Malik is languishing in a god forsaken Delhi prison, not very far away from you. He is awaiting trial in a 3 decades old sedition case, in which NIA has demanded death sentence against him. The impact of incarceration on his health is a matter of public knowledge and the fact that he is being subjected to inhumane conditions is substantiateable from all available legal records. He is being denied the fundamental right to medical examination by a doctor of his own choice and is being administered medicines which are counterproductive to his health. On 02nd November 2024; he has gone on an indefinite hunger strike to protest against this inhumane treatment. This hunger strike will further adversely affect his well being and put at risk the life of a man who after renouncing armed struggle chose to believe in the concept of non-violence.

Rahul Ji, you being leader of Indian National Congress must be knowing for a fact that on the continuous persuasion of Indian civil society members supported by important diplomatic missions of USA, UK and EU stationed in New Delhi, Yasin Malik in pursuit of peace, while disregarding the political cost and the obvious risks associated with, renounced armed struggle and unilaterally declared ceasefire with India in 1994.

Ambassador Kuldip Nayyar, Mr Raj Mohan Gandhi (Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi), Mr Wajahat Habib Ullah, Justice (R) Madhoskar then Governor Utter Pradesh, Rajsh Pilot then Home Minister, then Governor Andhra Pradesh and Chief Justice (R) Rajinder Sachar, as special emissaries, played pivotal role in getting assurances from the government that Indian state would not only drop all past charges against him and his compatriots but would also engage in a structured dialogue with him and other Kashmiri leaders to find a sustainable solution to the Kashmir conflict. This assurance was endorsed / seconded by American, British and European diplomats; who also met Yasin pleading him to believe in pledge of Indian state. Yasin, being a disciple of mother harmony at heart, decided to take this bait no matter how hollow or duplicitous it seemed even back then.

Yasin being a man of his vow (which is the reason why he lives in hearts of millions of Kashmiris worldwide) never went back on his word and embraced Ahimsa by heart. The same Ambassador Nayyar in 1999 wrote in Rediff that “The first militant, Yasin Malik, who raised his gun at a public meeting in heart of Srinagar, has turned nonviolent and vegetarian”. Now he is a follower of Mahatma Gandhi”. He wasn’t the only one to testify. Mr. Bharat Bhushan, a seasoned Indian journalist wrote in ‘The Telegraph’ in 2007 that “The President of JKLF, one of the first to wield the gun in Kashmir, is today training youngsters in non-violent politics. He uses a curious mixture of religion - sufism and non-violence in an attempt to build a constituency for peace in Jammu & Kashmir”.
I would also like to draw your attention towards a piece published in a Srinagar based newspaper in 2015. It said that “A group of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley joined JKLF chairman Yasin Malik in the protest at Maisuma early this week”. Reportedly, “The procession marched towards Lal Chowk chanting slogan Sang Sang Jiyain Gay, Sang Sang Marain Gay (we will live together and die together).

I quote this because I know for a person that Yasin is a true disciple of “unity in diversity” the soul of Kashmiriyat. It was his unblemished non-violent ideology, which compelled Dr. Manmohan Singh Ji, then India Prime Minister, to invite him on February 17, 2006, for initiating a dialogue between Government of India and the people of Jammu & Kashmir. In this meeting; Dr Singh was accompanied by his National Security Advisor, Home Secretary and Heads of Intelligence Agencies. Yasin offered his optimal support in the peace process.

Rahul Ji, I recall these anecdotes not to glorify Yasin for he is too tall to be glorified any further. I recall them to apprise you that Yasin stood by his end of the bargain. Unfortunately however; the same cannot be said for the Indian state. Since 2019 i.e in aftermath of revocation of Article 370; Yasin is being victimized by BJP government in all unimaginable ways. He is being tried for “Waging War against India in a 35 Years Old Case” and now Capital Sentence is being demanded for him in concocted cases filed against him by NIA. It is horrendous that a state like India which claims to be based on “Satyameva Jayate” has shamelessly walked out of its promise and is trying Yasin for decades old fabricated cases which pertain to “pre ceasefire era”. If India chooses to walk this path; you amongst all know that it would lead to nothing but state loosing trust in eyes of people and never being believed again by the masses.

Moreover; this will be a triumph of lie and deceit over truth and uprightness, which I am sure you and your family would not like to see in your life times.
Rahul Ji, you being Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha are burdened with the immense responsibility of speaking the truth no matter how bitter or politically disadvantageous it might be. I trust fully that you are also capable of discharging this responsibility which has been placed on your shoulders by the Indian people. Hence; I request you to bring to use your high moral and political influence in the Parliament and to initiate a debate in the case of Yasin Malik, who could become an instrument for bringing organic and not cosmetic peace back to the Jammu & Kashmir i.e paradise on earth. The Indian Parliament must debate as to whether a prisoner regardless of the charges leveled against him is entitled to the fundamental right of health / medical well being or not.

I eagerly await your leadership role for expectant ears of our twelve year old daughter (Raziyah Sultan) who hasn’t seen her father in more than a decade.

Wirth Profound Regards
Yours Sincerely
Mushaal Hussein Mullick