The article rejects the “broken man” reading of Yasin Malik’s Tihar affidavit. Malik, serving a life term for conspiracy and waging war against the state, denies involvement in the 1990 Sarla Bhat murder, says he will not defend himself, asks for capital punishment, and says he is divorcing his wife Mushaal Hussein so she will not live as a widow under his circumstances.

It frames Malik as a political survivor, not a reformed victim. The author ties him to the 1989 Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping, the 1990 killing of unarmed IAF personnel, and other JKLF violence; says he dropped the gun after Hizbul Mujahideen displaced JKLF and Pakistan’s support dried up; and argues his later ceasefire, split with Amanullah Khan, and claimed back-channel role with New Delhi bought him years of protection more than they produced peace.

The closing claim is about justice for victims, not sympathy for the convict’s family. Personal messages to his mother, wife, and daughter are called a “Greek tragedy” on paper; the author says families of those killed or abducted suffered the same losses without a chance to answer charges—and that bringing Malik to trial, however late, is overdue closure, not medieval revenge.

Former Pakistan trained terrorist turned pacifist chief of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front [JKLF] Mohammad Yasin Malik who is serving a life term for conspiracy and waging war against the state, is in the news once again. This time it’s because of an affidavit filed by him from Tihar Jail in connection with ongoing legal proceedings against him in the 1990 Sarla Bhat murder case.

In his affidavit, Malik has basically mentioned two things; one, he’s not involved in this murder but still does not intend to defend himself. To make things more confusing, he has........

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