10 Kashmiri Leaders Still Fighting for Independence in 20245 – Their Shocking Stories

The snow-capped peaks of the Pir Panjal mountains have witnessed seven decades of geopolitical struggle. As India and Pakistan continue their bitter dispute over Kashmir, a quieter but persistent movement refuses to align with either nuclear-armed neighbor. Their demand? Complete independence for all of historic Kashmir, including Gilgit-Baltistan, free from Indian, Pakistani, and Chinese control.

In dimly lit homes across Srinagar, in the refugee camps of Muzaffarabad, and among the diaspora in London, a network of activists, scholars, and former militants keeps alive what may be the most radical idea in South Asia: that Kashmir should belong only to Kashmiris.

The Lifetime Prisoner: Yasin Malik’s Unbroken Will

The most famous face of this movement sits in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, serving a life sentence. Yasin Malik, the 57-year-old chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), has become the symbol of Kashmiri resistance—and its evolution.

Once a militant commander who crossed the Line of Control (LoC) with an AK-47, Malik renounced violence in 1994, declaring that “guns had brought Kashmir to ruins.” His transformation mirrored South Africa’s ANC or Ireland’s Sinn Féin—armed struggle giving way to political activism.

But India never recognized this shift. In May 2022, Malik was convicted under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for allegedly funding militancy—charges he denies. From prison, his handwritten notes circulate among supporters, arguing that Kashmir’s distinct identity—where Muslims, Pandits and Sikhs once coexisted—predates both India and Pakistan.

“Yasin Sahib’s message is simple,” explains a young law student in Srinagar who asked to remain anonymous. “We are not Indians who need to become Pakistanis, nor Pakistanis who should become Indians. We were Kashmiris before these countries existed.”

The Mandela of Kashmir: Shabir Shah‘s 35-Year Resistance

If Malik represents the movement’s public face, 70-year-old Shabir Shah is its moral conscience. Jailed since 2017—and spending over half his life in Indian prisons—the founder of the Jammu & Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) is often compared to Nelson Mandela.

His crime? Consistently advocating for Kashmir’s right to self-determination through nonviolent means. Court documents show prosecutors arguing that even Shah’s calls for UN-monitored plebiscites constitute “sedition.”

“Shabir Shah makes Delhi uncomfortable because he exposes the contradiction,” says London-based human rights lawyer Barrister Aamir Rana. “India claims Kashmir is integral, yet arrests those who want to test that claim democratically.”

The Diaspora Voice: Shabir Choudhry’s Legal Crusade

3,000 miles away in a modest office in South London, 68-year-old Shabir Choudhry keeps the flame alive through legal channels. The UK-based founder of the Kashmir National Party has spent decades presenting Kashmir’s case at the UN and European Parliament.

His 2023 legal analysis went viral in activist circles—it highlighted how Pakistan’s own Constitution (Article 257) implicitly acknowledges Kashmir’s special status, while India’s revocation of Article 370 violated the Simla Agreement.

“Kashmir isn’t real estate to be divided between two quarrelsome brothers,” Choudhry tells me over mint tea. “The third option—independence—was on the table in 1947, 1948, 1957 and 1994. It remains the only just solution.”

The Gilgit-Baltistan Factor: China’s Shadow

The independence movement faces its most complex challenge in the snowbound valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB)—territory administered by Pakistan but claimed by India, where China has made deep economic inroads through the $65 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Here, 76-year-old Abdul Hamid Khan of the Balawaristan National Front (BNF) wages a lonely battle. Exiled to Sweden for years, he returned in 2019 to protest CPEC projects that he says are “colonizing” the region.

“First the British, then Pakistan, now China—all treat us as a territory, not a people,” Khan said in a rare 2023 interview before being detained again. His movement documents how GB’s population has changed from 98% locals in 1947 to under 60% today—a demographic shift mirroring concerns in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The Youth Movement: Digital Resistance

In the absence of established leaders—many jailed or exiled—a new generation employs technology to bypass censorship.

• The GB United Movement runs anonymous Instagram accounts documenting land acquisitions

• JKNSF Youth in Muzaffarabad and Poonch uses Signal to coordinate protests

• “Kashmir Third Option” podcasts discuss independence models from Montenegro to Timor-Leste

“They’ve criminalized our political parties, so we become the party,” says a 24-year-old female activist in Srinagar who organizes through encrypted apps.

While India and Pakistan dominate headlines with their competing claims over Kashmir, a quieter but resolute camp insists on an alternative path: full independence from all three powers—India, Pakistan, and China. From Srinagar’s prisons to Gilgit-Baltistan’s mountain valleys and the diaspora hubs of London, a generation of Kashmiri and GB leaders have kept alive the vision of Azadi in its truest sense. Their journeys—marked by imprisonment, exile, and relentless advocacy—highlight not just political defiance, but the enduring belief that Kashmiris deserve to decide their own future. The following figures represent some of the most prominent voices in this movement.

Key Figures of the Independence Movement

Why This Matters Beyond Kashmir

The independence movement in Jammu, Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan is not just a regional dispute. It raises deeper questions about how borders are drawn, how people are governed, and whether international law still has space for genuine self-determination.

It challenges the assumption that the partitions of the 20th century were final. It reminds the world that Kashmir remains one of the last disputes still listed on the United Nations agenda. And it forces global powers to consider how an independent Kashmir—positioned at the crossroads of South and Central Asia—would affect projects like China’s Belt and Road and America’s Indo-Pacific strategy.

As veteran journalist Ahmed Rashid observes: “Kashmir’s independence struggle is the ghost at the feast of India-Pakistan relations. However much both states try to ignore it, the idea refuses to die.”

The Road Ahead

The space for peaceful activism is narrowing. In Indian-administered Kashmir, counterinsurgency operations and strict laws silence dissent. In Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan clamps down on pro-independence voices, particularly those who oppose Chinese-backed development projects.

Yet despite repression, the idea of azadi persists. Families continue to honor the sacrifices of leaders like Yasin Malik. Shabir Shah’s writings smuggled from prison circulate quietly among young activists. Diaspora groups in London, Brussels, and New York keep the issue alive in international forums. And digitally savvy Kashmiri youth find new ways to connect their struggle with other global independence movements.

For its supporters, independence is no longer just a slogan of the past. It is a living political vision—a demand for dignity, recognition, and the right to self-determination. As long as these voices endure, the dream of a free Kashmir—beyond India, Pakistan, and China—will continue to survive.