The story so far: A Jammu court on Tuesday turned down Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik’s plea to physically attend court and cross-examine witnesses in the 1989 Rubaiya Sayeed abduction case, a CBI counsel said. Ms. Sayeed in July 2022 identified Mr. Malik as one of her abductors.
“When she made her statement (before the court) she categorically stated that he (Yasin Malik) is the one. She said he is the one and his name is Yasin Malik. When asked questions about Malik and photographs were shown, she specifically stated ‘I remember him categorically’,” advocate Monica Kohli told The Hindu.
What happened in 1989?
Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and sister of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, was abducted on December 8, 1989 at around 3.45 p.m. when she was returning home from medical college in a minibus. She was 23 years old at the time. The abduction was carried out near Nowgam, close to the Mufti residence. Her father, Mr. Sayeed, had been sworn in to his post in the V.P. Singh government barely a week before the incident. The bus was intercepted by four armed men and Ms. Sayeed was moved to a car and taken to an undisclosed location.
JKLF claimed responsibility for the abduction and demanded the release of Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Ghulam Nabi Bhat, Noor Mohammad Kalwal, Mohammad Altaf and Javed Ahmad Zargar in exchange for Ms. Sayeed. Later, the JKLF dropped the demand for the release of Zargar and replaced it with a demand to release Abdul Ahad Waza.
Farooq Abdullah was the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir when the incident happened, and he was on a visit to London for a medical check-up. Dr. Abdullah immediately made plans to return to the country to take care of the situation. Meanwhile, central government and Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials reached Srinagar to negotiate with JKLF for Ms. Sayeed’s release.
In his book Kashmir: Land of Regrets, then Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Moosa Raza writes that a crisis management group (CMG) headed by Prime Minister Mr. Singh was formed to explore ways to free Ms. Sayeed. The CMG also included other ministers, the cabinet secretary, and the IB chief.
Abdul Hamid Sheikh, one of the JKLF members whose release was demanded, was being treated at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar after being wounded. Dr. Guru, a JKLF sympathiser, was in charge of his treatment.
Zafar Meraj, Moulvi Abbas, and Mir Mustafa served as intermediaries in negotiations with JKLF. Recalling the incidents in his book, Mr. Raza writes that the government eventually agreed for direct talks, and he, along with one IB official, was picked up from the designated spot and taken to a house in Old Srinagar where they were met by Abdul Majid Wani, father of Ashfaq Wani, one of the top leaders of JKLF. The move, however, did not result in an immediate release for Ms. Sayeed.
As days passed, pressure to have Ms. Sayeed released safely mounted on the authorities. After continued negotiations, it was decided that Ms. Sayeed would be set free three hours after the arrested militants were released.
Chief Minister Dr. Abdullah was reportedly unhappy about being pressured by the central government to release the militants. In his opinion, it would set a trend of kidnappings.
On December 13, the militants were brought to Justice M.L. Bhat’s house and handed over to the mediators. Ms. Sayeed reached Justice Bhat’s house a little after 7 p.m. that evening. She was immediately flown to Delhi and not made to answer any questions by the intelligence authorities.
Did more kidnappings follow Rubaiya Sayeed’s abduction?
Yes. As feared by authorities, prompted by this release of militants in exchange for a person of importance, more kidnappings followed in Kashmir. This included Kashmir University Vice-Chancellor Dr. Mushir-ul-Haq who was kidnapped and killed, and Nahida Imtiaz – daughter of former minister Saifuddin Soz – who was kidnapped and released.
