In his affidavit, Malik said the Indian government had allegedly conspired to implicate him in a false case after 36 years and have him executed. He said he was leaving the matter to God and maintained that accepting any court punishment would not mean accepting the charges against him.
Malik categorically denied involvement in the 1990 murder case of Sarla Bhat. He claimed he was implicated on the basis of an alleged JKLF note found near Bhat’s body and questioned the subsequent absence of the note from the official record.
He also argued that he had been severely injured 11 days before Bhat’s killing, making it impossible for him to have planned the murder or issued instructions for it.
According to Malik, Indian agencies had previously encouraged him to develop relations with Pakistan, but those contacts were later presented as evidence against him. He said that during the Vajpayee government, Ajit Doval, Brajesh Mishra and R.K. Mishra had asked him to play a positive role in improving Pakistan-India relations.
Malik further alleged that his name, photograph and court proceedings were used for political messaging during the 2019 and 2024 elections as part of an anti-Pakistan narrative.
He said he had decided not to contest the case further in protest against what he described as political victimisation. Malik maintained that even if the court sentenced him to death, he would accept the punishment for the cause of Kashmir, stressing that accepting a sentence would not amount to admitting guilt.
In the affidavit, Malik also referred to his prolonged imprisonment and solitary confinement, as well as years of separation from his mother, wife and daughter.
Addressing his wife, Mushaal Malik, he expressed a desire to free her from a life of prolonged imprisonment and waiting for a possible execution. He thanked her for standing by him courageously and said he was releasing her from their marital companionship.
Malik also urged his daughter to remain in contact with her grandmother, saying she should help ease her grandmother’s grief.
He said he had placed his position and the voice of his conscience before the court and would leave the final decision to Allah.