This news article is a three-part series. Part-III is published today. Part-I and Part-II can be read here.
SRINAGAR: Mohammad Yasin Malik has told a Srinagar court that he has decided not to contest the proceedings against him further and has asked for capital punishment, while insisting that his decision must not be interpreted as an admission of guilt in the murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat.
The final pages of Malik's 25-page affidavit move sharply away from arguments over evidence and Kashmir politics into a deeply personal statement addressed to his mother, wife and 13-year-old daughter Raziya Sultana.
Malik says his decision followed prayer and reflection.
He describes performing Istikhara, a prayer seeking divine guidance before making an important decision.
"Considering my personal circumstances and after deep reflection, I have decided not to contest the trial proceedings further," he states.
But he immediately adds a qualification:
"My decision shall not be treated as an admission of any prosecution fact, guilt or acceptance of the allegations made against me. I request capital punishment."
The statement comes after more than 20 pages in which Malik denies involvement in Bhat's killing, challenges the evidence against him and argues that his prosecution after more than three decades is politically driven.
He nevertheless says he has no complaint against the court or 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," the affidavit says.
Malik begins his farewell to his family by addressing his mother.
He says she has "suffered immensely" during the past eight years and refers to the separation and hardship caused by his incarceration.
He also claims that relatives, daughters, friends and well-wishers became distanced from the family after being repeatedly summoned by the NIA and SIA for questioning.
"I pray that your suffering may now come to an end and that you may find peace, strength and dignity," Malik writes to his mother.
Tells Wife to Begin New Chapter
His message to his wife is more extraordinary.
Malik says he has been unable to speak to his wife and daughter for eight years because, according to him, he was not permitted telephone calls or video conferencing with them.
He notes that his wife is 20 years younger than him and says he does not want her to spend the rest of her life burdened by his imprisonment or as a widow.
"I therefore request you to find the courage to begin a new chapter of your life with dignity and hope," he writes.
"I shall always love, respect and remember both of you in this world and in the next life. Wherever my destiny takes me, my prayers, affection and blessings will always remain with you."
Malik then makes what amounts to a declaration that he intends to end the marriage before any execution.
"Before I am hanged, I have taken the decision to separate you from the bond of our Nikah," he states.
He says he struggled with how to express the separation and turned to Nelson Mandela's writings to articulate his feelings.
The affidavit then reproduces lengthy passages attributed to Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom, concerning the personal costs imposed on the families of those consumed by political struggles.
Malik singles out the sentiment that a political life can leave little room for family and describes that as one of the most painful consequences of the path he chose.
The passages Malik cites culminate in a distinction between public and private sacrifice: being regarded as a father of a nation may be an honour, but being a father within one's own family can be a greater one, and one enjoyed too little.
The most intimate passage is addressed directly to Raziya Sultana, whom Malik describes as his 13-year-old daughter.
"To my beloved thirteen-year-old daughter, Raziya Sultana, I wish to say that I have not heard your voice for the last eight years," he writes.
"Today, while I remain confined within my cell, I carry your memories with me every moment."
Malik says a photograph of his daughter is his constant companion in his cell.
"In my death cell, there is only myself and your photograph," he says.
"Through your picture, I feel your presence with me twenty-four hours a day. I can only pray for your happiness, your safety, and your bright future."
He asks his daughter to call her grandmother for at least five minutes every day so that the elderly woman can receive her affection and support.
Life Marked by Severe Injuries
Malik's personal reflections are also tied closely to the physical injuries he says he has carried since 1990.
He says he suffered a fractured neck, multiple fractures, facial paralysis, ear injuries and severe head trauma after jumping from the fifth floor during the April 8, 1990, BSF raid in Narwara.
After his August arrest, he says, he was taken from Gogo Land interrogation centre to Badami Bagh Army Cantonment Hospital and then flown in a Home Ministry aircraft to Tihar Jail.
A medical team headed by G.B. Pant Hospital director Dr Khalilullah treated him, he says.
In 1992, Malik underwent open-heart surgery performed by Dr Venugopal and Dr Upendra Kaul, during which his aortic valve was replaced.
He says doctors also told him that his facial paralysis would be permanent.
Years later, during the Vajpayee peace initiative, he travelled abroad for treatment, including to Johns Hopkins Hospital in the United States.
Malik says doctors there were surprised that he had survived his 1990 injuries and advised surgery that might restore about 60 percent of his condition.
It was during that episode, he says, that Vajpayee offered $50,000 for his treatment, which he declined. He says he similarly declined $30,000 offered through Pakistan's then ambassador to the United States, Maleeha Lodhi.
No Hatred
Malik closes the affidavit with what he calls a "Declaration of Conscience."
He says he has put before the court his "truth, my memories, my conscience and the circumstances that have shaped my life."
"I bear no hatred towards any individual. I do not seek revenge against anyone," he says.
He declares that investigators, witnesses and those responsible for preparing the record will ultimately be accountable for their actions.
"No human institution can erase what actually happened," Malik writes.
"No passage of time can transform falsehood into truth. No repetition of an allegation can make it a fact."
He describes the affidavit not as an appeal for mercy but as his "final statement of conscience."
The affidavit concludes with Malik saying that whatever is written about him, whatever history records and whatever judgment is eventually delivered, he leaves the ultimate judgment to God.
"I have spoken. I have placed the truth as I know it on record. The rest I leave to Allah," he says.
The document is verified at Delhi on August 24, 2026, and identifies Malik as confined in Central Jail No. 7, Tihar.
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