Yasin Malik (born 3 April 1966) is a Kashmiri separatist leader and former militant who advocates the separation of Kashmir from both India and Pakistan.

In May 2022, Malik pleaded guilty to charges of criminal conspiracy and waging war against the state,[4][5][6] and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

His group was involved in attempting to disrupt the 1983 cricket match with West Indies in the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium,[13] disturbing National Conference gatherings in Srinagar and protesting Maqbool Bhat's execution.

[a] They were drawn to the Jamaat leader of the Srinagar district, Maulvi Mohammad Yusuf Shah, whose Friday sermons were said to have been a favourite of the youth.

[17] In the run up to the Legislative Assembly elections in 1987, the Islamic Students League led by Yasin Malik joined the Muslim United Front (MUF).

[19][15] According to another Jamaat member, the ISL was recruited into the MUF to provide "street power" to counter the "hooliganism" of the National Conference, the ruling party.

[15] Malik campaigned for the Jamaat candidate Mohammad Yusuf Shah (part of MUF) who stood for the 1987 elections from Amirakadal, Srinagar.

Yusuf Shah as well as Malik were arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police and imprisoned until the end of 1987 without a formal charge, court appearance or a trial.

[27] Malik, along with Hamid Sheikh, Ashfaq Wani and Javed Ahmad Mir, formed the core group—dubbed the "HAJY" group—of the JKLF militants returning with arms and training received in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

By 1992, the majority of the JKLF militants were killed or captured and they were yielding ground to pro-Pakistan guerilla groups such as the Hizbul Mujahideen, strongly promoted by the Pakistani military authorities.

[34] He offered political negotiations, but insisted that they must be tripartite with both Indian and Pakistani governments, and should cover the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Victoria Schofield states that the Pakistan government recognised Yasin Malik as the leader of JKLF, which further complicated the situation.

[39] In February 2013, Malik shared the dais with the banned Lashker-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed at a protest in Islamabad,[40][41][42] which was condemned by many commentators, including Muslim bodies.

[43] On 4 December 2013, the JKLF claimed that Malik was thrown out of a hotel in New Delhi with his wife and 18-month-old daughter due to his political ideology of separatism.

[48] In 2017, India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered a case of terror funding against various separatist leaders, and named Malik and four others in a charge sheet filed in 2019.

[49] In March 2022, a Delhi court reviewed the evidence, and ordered framing of charges against Malik and others under the stringent UAPA and Indian Penal Code.

The judge observed there was prima facie evidence that the accused were direct recipients of terror funds, mainly from Pakistan, with which they shared goals.

[52] Reacting to the court's verdict, Malik's wife Mushaal appealed to the UN, UNHCR and international powers "to take notice of this war crime and save the life of a warrior of his motherland and to stop this grave injustice against Yasin.

"[53] Pakistan's foreign ministry condemned the sentencing as a "sham trial" and described it as "another abhorrent attempt of the Indian government to deprive the Kashmiri people of their true leadership".