"What About Women You Widowed?" Terror Victims On Yasin Malik Affidavit

The victims of terror unleashed by the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) led by Yasin Malik in the 1990s in Kashmir have hit out at Malik's affidavit in a Srinagar court seeking the death penalty in the case of the murder of nurse Sarla Bhat and also announcing divorce from his wife.

The families of the victims of the JKLF have rejected the affidavit as a "publicity stunt" and an attempt by Yasin Malik to garner "sympathy".

Nirmal Khanna, wife of Squadron Leader Ravi Khanna who was gunned down by JKLF terrorists, told NDTV that Malik is now shedding crocodile tears and there should be no sympathy for him.

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Squadron Leader Ravi Khanna and three other Air Force personnel were shot dead by JKLF terrorists on January 25, 1990, in Srinagar at a bus stop. According to eyewitness accounts and survivor testimonies, JKLF chief Yasin Malik was identified as the main shooter who led the attack and fired on the officers.

Nirmal Khanna says Yasin Malik deserves death penalty

Nirmal Khanna today says Yasin Malik deserves nothing less than the death sentence.

"He killed my unarmed husband. He pumped 28 bullets into his body. And today he is trying to play a messiah?" asked Nirmal Khanna.

"I am waiting for the day when he will be hanged."

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On Malik's assertion in the affidavit that he is divorcing his wife as he doesn't want her to live the life of a widow, Khanna asks what about the numerous women who were widowed by Malik and his gang.

"He doesn't want a widow's life for his wife. But what about the women he widowed? He has blood on his hands and must pay for it soon."

Khanna also questioned the delay in justice. "It's been 36 years. Why are the government and judiciary not dispensing justice?" she asks.

Malik has filed the affidavit in relation to the case of the killing of nurse Sarla Bhat, who was gunned down in Srinagar in 1990. He has offered himself for the gallows in the case, declaring he will not defend the trial even as he announced divorce from his Pakistani wife Mushaal Hussein Mullick.

"Karma is catching up with him finally and he is trying to gain sympathy with stunts like this affidavit," Khanna says.

Dr Sushma Shalla's father Chuni Lal Shalla was killed by JKLF in 1990

Her words find an echo in Dr Sushma Shalla, whose father Inspector Chuni Lal Shalla was tortured and killed by JKLF militants in North Kashmir on May 1, 1990. She has also hit out at Yasin Malik, slamming his affidavit.

"Being a direct victim of terrorism, it gives me immense pleasure that finally Yasin Malik is made to pay for his sins," she says.

Scoffing at Malik's divorce from his wife, she asks: "What about the women whose husbands were killed by you? My mother had to live the life of a widow because of you. My father was killed by JKLF. Did you ever feel that pain? Now you have started crying."