Although terrorism is largely down in Jammu and Kashmir, targeted attacks continue against those that terrorists feel are aligned to the State or are associated with institutions of the State. A 35-year-old social media influencer was shot dead by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district Wednesday. Amreen Bhat was a TikTok artist and a TV star and apparently terrorists did not like the fact that the woman was a public figure and saw her activities as inimical to Islamist ideology and who promoted herself on Indian entertainment platforms. 

Bhat's nephew, a 10-year-old boy named Farhan Zubair, was also injured in the attack. The attack was carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, police said.

This was s the second targeted attack in the last 24 hours. On Tuesday, a policeman was shot dead by terrorists outside his home in Srinagar. His seven-year-old daughter, who reportedly rushed to save him, was injured in the attack.

These attacks happened as a court in New Delhi handed life imprisonment to Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik in cases related to terrorism and secessionist activities in 2016-17.  The special court said that prima facie Malik was involved with several others in a criminal conspiracy due to which largescale protests, resulting in violence and arson, were orchestrated in the Valley.

It had said Malik had set up an elaborate structure and mechanism across the world to raise funds for carrying out terrorist and other unlawful activities in J&K in the name of “freedom struggle”.  It however rejected the prosecutor's plea for death penalty to Malik,   On May 10, Malik had pleaded guilty to all charges, including those under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, or UAPA.

The special court of India National Investigation Agency (NIA) said Malik's actions “intended to strike at the heart of the idea of India” and were “committed with the assistance of foreign powers and designated terrorists”

During the trail, which was keenly followed by the media, Malik told the court that he had given up violence in 1994 and declared that he “would follow the peaceful path of Mahatma Gandhi and engage in non-violent political struggle”. The court observed that in its opinion there was no reformation in him. It said Malik may have given up the gun in 1994, but he “never expressed any regret for the violence committed prior to the year 1994”.

Malik said there was no evidence that he had provided any logistical support to any terrorist organisation in the last 28 years. Pointing out that he had met many former Prime Ministers, from the time of V P Singh till A B Vajpayee, who engaged with him, he said the government cannot be considered a fool for providing a political platform to a person who will engage in terrorist activities.

(SAM)