In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Hurriyat leaders and legal experts have strongly condemned the BJP-led Indian government and its agencies for fabricating evidence and producing questionable eyewitnesses in politically motivated cases against senior Kashmiri leaders, particularly Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has presented two purported eyewitnesses before a TADA court in Jammu, claiming that they identified Yasin Malik as the “main shooter” in the 1990 killing of four Indian Air Force personnel in Srinagar. Observers note that one of these individuals had already given a similar statement earlier, raising serious suspicions about the credibility, timing, and orchestration of the testimonies.
Legal analysts in Srinagar say the development is part of a wider pattern in which Indian agencies retroactively create or manipulate witnesses to secure predetermined convictions against Kashmiri political figures who challenge India’s occupation. They point out that the alleged eyewitnesses have surfaced 35 years after the incident, long after the closure of the case, and only at a time when the Modi regime is tightening its grip on dissent.
Hurriyat leaders said the latest move is aimed at criminalising Yasin Malik to divert global attention from India’s refusal to honour UN resolutions on the Kashmir dispute. They stressed that the case itself—reopened decades later—is rooted in political vendetta, with the sole purpose of silencing Malik and other incarcerated leaders demanding the right to self-determination.
Yasin Malik, appearing through video link from Delhi’s Tihar Jail where he is already held in a fabricated “terror funding” case, rejected the allegations. He also faces trial in another politically motivated case relating to the 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed. Rights groups say these cases have been revived selectively to ensure his permanent incarceration and eliminate all peaceful political space for Kashmiris.
Hurriyat leaders maintain that courts functioning under BJP influence are being weaponized to legitimize India’s crackdown and mislead the international community. They add that the manufactured narratives, coerced testimonies, and draconian laws are being used to eliminate the entire resistance leadership, from Masarrat Aalam Butt and Shabbir Ahmed Shah to Aasiya Andrabi and countless others.
Hurriyat leaders urged the United Nations, international rights bodies, and global legal institutions to take urgent cognizance of India’s judicial manipulation and demand the release of all political detainees, including Yasin Malik, who continue to languish in Indian jails in violation of international law. They said India must be held accountable for weaponizing courts to criminalise the Kashmiri struggle and suppress the political voice of an occupied people.
