JKLF Chief Yasin Malik Arrested in Srinagar

Separatists had asked voters to desist from participating in the bypolls to Srinagar and Anantnag constituencies.

File photo of separatist leader Yasin Mali. (Photo: ANI screengrab)

A day after separatists asked voters to desist from participating in the bypolls to Srinagar and Anantnag parliamentary constituencies, the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Mohammad Yasin Malik was arrested on Saturday from his office in Srinagar.

A posse of policemen raided Abi Guzar office of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) in the heart of Srinagar and arrested Malik to desist him from spearheading the poll boycott campaign.

JKLF spokesman

Activists of JKLF and a constituent of hardline Hurriyat Conference headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani had started a joint election boycott campaign on Friday by holding a protest rally in Srinagar. They also visited various areas in Ganderbal and Budgam districts and distributed pamphlets, urging people to remain vigilant and boycott the upcoming elections.

The bypolls to Srinagar and Anantnag parliamentary constituencies are slated for 9 and 12 April, respectively.

Casting or boycotting vote is a democratic right of every human being, but when election process is facilitated and pro-boycott people are terrorised, raided, arrested and put in jails, this process is reduced to a military operation

Yasin Malik

Terming the participation in election process and voting as "disrespecting the sacrifices", the JKLF chief said the elections for assemblies and Parliament have been used to "hoodwink international opinion" on Kashmir.