UPDATE

Out of jail

TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP

In Srinagar, JKLF leaders Yasin Malik and Javed Mir (right) address a press conference on November 12.

ON November 11, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Mohammad Yasin Malik walked out of Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu, and flew to Srinagar a free man.

Yasin Malik was released after eight months in jail, on charges of receiving $100,000 through a hawala operator. He denied the allegations, and claimed that he had been held for political reasons. The other released JKLF members had been held for a considerably longer period. Shaukat Bakshi, alleged to have played a role in the kidnapping of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's daughter Rubiya Sayeed and the murder of four unarmed Indian Air Force personnel, had been in jail for over a decade. Others released include his one-time comrade in arms Nazir Ahmad Shah, the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen's Ayub Dar, and the People's League political leader Mukhtar Ahmad Waza.

While some of the released prisoners have come out in strong support of Chief Minister Sayeed, the JKLF's official position is that the government's action was the result of international pressure on India. Malik has so far shown no sign of willingness to engage either the State or Union government in any form of dialogue, a key component of Sayeed's reconciliation platform. He has also been resisting dialogue with the Ram Jethmalani-led Kashmir Committee, arguing that it has no legitimacy. He is, however, outnumbered within the All Parties Hurriyat Conference on the issue.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party has launched a full-scale offensive against the State government on the issue of releasing jailed terrorists. Party president M. Venkiah Naidu even said that the move would "boost terrorism."

Praveen Swami

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