From gun-toting Kashmiri rebel to Gandhism: Yasin Malik’s journey

The previous 30 years of famous Kashmiri rebel commander Yasin Malik’s life, have been a struggle against Indian sovereignty in the disputed territory.

It has progressed from clutching a Kalashnikov weapon to becoming a self-avowed admirer of Mahatma Gandhi.

Last week, Malik, 56, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted in a terror-funding case to which he pleaded guilty.

Malik is one of the prominent separatist leaders in Indian-administered Kashmir who advocates for a peaceful conclusion to the decades-old conflict and warns of the threats the unresolved conflict poses to South Asia’s peace and prosperity.

Malik is the leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), a party that supports for a Kashmir state separate from both India and Pakistan, which each rule sections of the Himalayan territory but claim the entire province.

In 2019, the Indian government outlawed the JKLF, along with numerous other separatist parties, for their “secessionist ideology.”

The ban was followed by a sweeping crackdown on separatists and rebels, the majority of whom are still imprisoned.

Shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was re-elected, the Hindu nationalist government led by Modi abolished India’s special status in Kashmir, divided it into two federal territories, and imposed an unprecedented security shutdown in the valley, during which thousands of Kashmiris were arrested and imprisoned.

Malik’s conviction is being interpreted as Modi’s government’s final attempt to deprive Kashmiri pro-freedom organizations of leadership – one of the goals of India’s 2019 manoeuvres.