Yasin Malik decides to divorce his Pakistani wife Mushaal Malik, requests capital punishment in Sarla Bhat murder case without contest

Srinagar: Yasin Malik, who heads the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and is currently in Tihar jail, has announced to not contest the trial proceedings in a case of murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse against him requesting for capital punishment and has also decided to divorce his Pakistani wife Mushaal Malik.

Malik, who is lodged in Tihar jail of Delhi since 2019, has made the latest submissions before the court of additional sessions judge (TADA/POTA) in Srinagar providing minute details surrounding the case of State Investigation Agency regarding a Kashmiri pandit nurse Sarla Bhat, who was killed in 1990 and in which he is one of the accused. The submission was made before the court by Malik's counsel Advocate Abu Adil Pandit on September 2 and it is now listed for the reply on September 19, 2026.

“I have no complaint against this court or the prosecuting agencies. I respectfully state that, in my understanding, the present proceedings have arisen out of political circumstances and decisions and I believe that I have been falsely implicated in the present case,” Malik writes in his 25 page submission before the court.


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He said has taken the decision after “Istikhara” an Islamic prayer said before any decision is taken. “Considering my personal circumstances and after deep reflection, I have decided not to contest the trial proceedings further. My decision shall not be treated as an admission of guilt or acceptance of the allegations made against me. I request for capital punishment,” he said.

In a personal note to his family in the same submission, Malik while addressing his wife Mushaal Malik said that he doesn’t wish her to spend the rest of her life carrying the burden of his circumstances or living as a widow. “You are twenty years younger than me...I therefore request you to find the courage to begin a new chapter of your life with dignity and hope…I shall always love, respect and remember both of you…that before I will be hanged I have taken the decision to separate you from the bond of our Nikkah, I don't know how I will pronounce separation from you…” said Malik, while quoting a long passage of Nelson Mandela addressed to Nomzamo. Malik has also urged his daughter Raziya Sultana to call her grandmother in Kashmir everyday for at least five minutes.

The State Investigation Agency (SIA) in Kashmir, in June this year, filed a 737-page chargesheet before a Special Court in Srinagar in connection with the 1990 abduction and killing of a Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat in which they have also named former JKLF chief Yasin Malik.

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The chargesheet has been submitted before the Court of the Additional Sessions Judge, TADA/POTA and Special Judge designated under the NIA Act, Srinagar and names Malik along with Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yousuf Sofi and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo as accused in the case. Malik is currently in Tihar jail, Chalkoo is absconding while Sofi, Sheikh and Taploo have died since. Bhat, was employed as a nurse at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) and was killed on April 18, 1990 and her body was found in Malabagh area on the outskirts of Srinagar.

In the latest submission, Malik clarified that he had no involvement in the murder of Bhat and was informed about the incident by an Intelligence Bureau officer, Mr Roy, months after its occurrence on February 21, 1991. He also refers to a book written by Jagmohan, who served as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir twice between 26 April 1984 – 11 July 1989 and 19 January 1990 – 26 May 1990, in which Malik says he has not mentioned his involvement in “brutal murder of Bhat or any other Kashmiri Pandit or their migration from Kashmir." He also pointed at another accused in the case Chalkoo of Uri, who Malik said along with another Captain Rashid of Tangdhar, were arrested in 1988-89 on allegations of being guides in "assisting Kashmiri youth to cross border." Malik says both escaped from Srinagar central jail in February-March of 1990 "under circumstances widely regarded as unusual." "Captain Rashid was subsequently killed by another militant organization on allegations relating to his conduct. I was informed that a decision had also been taken within JKLF against Khursheed Chalkoo and that Hamid Sheikh who was then functioning as the acting head of the organisation had authorised action against him. However Chalkoo managed to escape...After my release in 1994, I made enquiries regarding whereabouts of Chalkoo. I was informed that he had travelled to Pakistan Administered Kashmir, where he met a fatal accident," reads the submission. He further stated that, "neither GoI not those associated with our organisation have possessed any reliable information regarding Chalkoo's whereabouts...I make the above submissions only to emphasize that justice cannot be founded upon false implication. If any person was responsible for the tragic murder of Ms Sarla Bhat, the law must identify and prosecute the real offender on the basis of credible and legally admissible evidence. An innocent person cannot be made a substitute merely because the actual offender has not been brought to justice."

“Had SIA truly possessed a written note allegedly recovered…by the newly born SIA, such a crucial piece of evidence could never have escaped the attention of the Governor or the investigation authorities of that time…the complete absence of any such allegation during the relevant period seriously undermines the credibility of the present claim and raises grave doubts regarding the authenticity and reliability of the alleged document,” said Malik. He said that following his arrest on 6th of August 1990, nearly two dozen cases were filed against him under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, murder case of Bhat was never registered against him at that time.

He also stated that the allegations against Bhat that she worked as an informer for the security agencies were completely false and she was as innocent as his 13 year old daughter Raziya Sultana. He clarified that she had no information regarding his presence at a particular house in Srinagar, which BSF personnel raided on 8th of April 1990. He had jumped from the window to escape and sustained “life threatening injuries” following which he was in coma and "declared dead at least twice including in a Doordarshan bulletin."

While referring to his political engagement with the central government Malik writes that during the tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee the then National Security Advisor R K Mishra and senior IB official Ajit Doval, who is the current NSA informed him that the PM wants “a healthy Yasin Malik” at peace and dialogue table.

“I was issued a passport during the tenure of Vajpayee to enable my travel to the United States and the United Kingdom in connection with the health treatment for facial paralysis and ear as well as the peace process,” writes Malik. He claims that the Government of India through its embassy in the US had offered him $ 50000 and the Government of Pakistan through its embassy in the US had offered $ 30000 for his treatment, which he had declined “politely.”

The banned JKLF leader has also referred to his public projection during the general elections in the country in 2019 and 2024, alleging that his “name and image was used as part of political discourse during those elections.”

“In April 2022 charges were framed against me… On the day immediately preceding the framing of charges Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly appealed to the people of India to watch The Kashmir Files movie…On the same day several national TV channels repeatedly broadcast footage of my previous meeting with former PM Dr Manmohan Singh…From my observation the media coverage portrayed me as being responsible for the killing of Kashmiri Pandits and for crimes against Kashmiri Hindu women…Amit Shah hosted a luncheon for the makers of The Kashmir Files. On the next day charges were framed against me and several television channels carried headlines stating that Yasin Malik’s days are numbered,” read the submission.

Malik says that a few days after the filing of chargesheet in this case was filed the current Lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha visited members of Punjabi Hindi families living in Kashmir for nearly 150 years. “Did the LG ask the Kashmiri Pandit shopkeepers who continued to reside and conduct business in the area why they chose not to migrate and what gave them confidence to continue their lives in Kashmir,” asked Malik. He urged Sinha to ask people about his role in ensuring communal harmony and deep rooted connections of trust and friendship with the Pandit community members. Malik also referred to a request from a retired Inspector General of Police Afad ul Mujtaba, who in 2014, had asked him to visit Kashmiri Pandir migrant colony in Budgam, where residents were feeling insecure due to threatening letters allegedly issued by unknown militant organizations.

He also refers to his personal relations with Kashmiri Pandit community members including journalists and politicians like Surinder Ambardar. He also said that he had called for strikes and sat in protests against the killings of Kashmiri Pandits.

“The Director General of police in Jammu and Kashmir Kuldeep Khoda in 2010 publicly stated that 167 Kashmiri Pandits were killed from 1990 till 2010,” said Malik adding, “Ninety percent of them were killed in four massacres of Sangrampora in Budgam, Vandhama in Ganderbal, Shopian and Doda after the year 1996.”

Earlier in September 2025, Malik had also submitted an 82 page affidavit in Delhi High Court defending his position as a non-violent democratic political leader and urging the Government of India to keep its promises made during 1990 to 1994 when he was in jail. He had said that the promises made to him by the top politicians, bureaucrats, justices and intelligence officials in 1990’s were kept till 2019, even during the first tenure of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.