Yasin Malik Complete Bio & Career
Yasinn Malik is a Kashmiri separatist leader and former militant who advocates the separation of Kashmir from both Indiaand Pakistan. He states that, as a young boy, he had witnessed violence carried out on the streets by the security forces. In 1980, after witnessing an altercation between the army and taxi drivers, he is said to have become a rebel. He formed a party called the Tala Party, which formed a revolutionary front, printing and distributing political materials and causing disturbances.
In the run up to the Legislative Assembly elections in 1987, the Islamic Students League led by Yasin Malik joined the Muslim United Front (MUF). He campaigned for the MUF candidate Mohammad Yusuf Shah who stood for the 1987 elections from Amirakadal, Srinagar. Scholar Sumantra Bose states that, as the vote counting began, it became clear that Yusuf Shah was winning by a landslide. However, the opposing National Conference candidate Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah was declared the winner. Yusuf Shah as well as Yasin Malik were arrested by the police and imprisoned until the end of 1987 without a formal charge, court appearance or a trial. Widespread rigging and "booth-capturing" in the elections were reported.
After release from prison, Yusuf Shah called himself "Syed Salahuddin" and became a guerrilla fighter, eventually becoming the commander-in-chief of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. Yasin Malik crossed over to the Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir to receive training at camps situated there. Malik renounced violence and adopted a Gandhian non-violent struggle for independence. He expressed a desire for a "democratic approach" involving the "true representatives" of Jammu and Kashmir. He offered political negotiations, but insisted they must be tripartite with both Indian and Pakistani governments and should cover the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir. This was unacceptable to the Indian government. Yasin Malik's peaceful struggle was unacceptable to the leadership of JKLF in Azad Kashmir. At the end of 1995, Amanullah Khan, the founder of JKLF, removed Malik as the president of JKLF. In return, Malik expelled Khan from the chairmanship. Thus JKLF had split into two factions.
Malik has had one-on-one meetings with President of Pakistan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, Prime Minister of India and other world leaders. In 2007, Malik and his party launched a campaign known as Safar-i-Azadi (Journey of Freedom). His journeys to meet some select world leaders was to create an atmosphere of anti-Indian sentiment among the public; which had lasted for over one year. During this time Yasin Malik and his colleagues visited about 3,500 towns and villages of Kashmir promoting an anti-Indian stance.