SRINAGAR: Senior separatist leader and chairman of the pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Yasin Malik has been placed under house arrest immediately after his arrival in the valley on Sunday.
However, the house arrest is not related to the Hafiz Saeed controversy. Sources said the step was taken due to apprehension of breach of peace following Malik’s return to the Valley.
Yasin Malik returned from Pakistan after over seven-week stay on Saturday. His trip to Pakistan was shrouded in controversy after he was seen sharing the dais with one of India’s most wanted terrorist Hafiz Saeed in Islamabad.
Malik has been under attack for meeting terror outfit Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafeez Saeed in Pakistan and his return to national capital yesterday saw protests by Shiv Sena activists at the airport.
The separatist leader from Jammu and Kashmir had shared the stage with the terrorist at a protest against Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s hanging. No case has been made out against him so far – either under the Passport Act or the Indian Penal Code.
The step was perhaps taken due to apprehensions of breach of peace in view of the ongoing tension in the valley.
Kashmir has been rocked by protests since the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on February 9, which has resulted in the death of four persons and injuries to scores of others.
The separatists have threatened to continue the protests till their demand for return of mortal remains of Guru and JKLF founder Mohammad Maqbool Bhat who was also hanged in Delhi’s Tihar jail on February 11, 1984, is met.
(with inputs from PTI)
