NEW YORK                -               World Kashmir Awareness Forum (WKAF), an organization dedicat­ed to promoting the realization of Kashmiri people’s UN-pledged right to self-determination, has called on the United Nations to demand the immediate release of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chief Muhammad Yasin Malik who is being held in Indian jail on “trumped-up” charges.

The WKAF expressed deep dis­tress over Malik’s vow to go on fast-unto-death on April 1 to pro­test against his incarceration and denial of legal process.

In its statement, WKAF, which is based in Washington, called for ensuring the safety of Yasin Ma­lik, while underscoring that as a “popular and revered” leader he has been waging a peaceful strug­gle against the Indian occupation of Jammu and Kashmir for the last 34 years.

“WKAF appeals to the Secre­tary-General of the United Nations and the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Coopera­tion (OIC) to demand the uncondi­tional release of Muhammad Yasin Malik and other political prison­ers immediately and drop all its trumped-up charges against him and hundreds of other political prisoners,” the statement said.

“Further, WKAF demands that the United Nations mediate with the Government of India to allow Geneva-based International Com­mission of Jurists and a delegation of Kashmiri American diaspora to travel to New Delhi to meet with Malik at an early date.”

Meanwhile, the ailing Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Syed Ali Geelani, who himself has been under house arrest for 11 years, has expressed grave con­cern over Yasin Malik’s health and safety.