Pakistan makes separatist Kashmir leader Yasin Malik’s wife special advisor to caretaker PM

Pakistan has appointed Mushaal Hussain Malik, wife of the jailed Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, as a special advisor to the country’s newly appointed caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar.

Her name was included in the five Special Advisor to Prime Minister (SAPM) list unveiled late on Thursday night after President Arif Alvi administered an oath to the 19-member caretaker Cabinet at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the presidential house.

Mushaal, a Pakistani national married to Malik, was appointed special advisor to the caretaker Prime Minister Kakar on human rights and women empowerment.

A special advisor has a lower status than a junior minister but provides assistance to the prime minister on key relevant issues.

Among other four special advisors, Jawad Sohrab Malilk has been appointed SAPM for overseas Pakistanis, vice admiral (retired) Iftikhar Rao as an advisor on maritime affairs, TV anchor and writer Wasih Shah on tourism, and Syeda Arifa Zehra as an advisor on federal education and professional training.

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin married Pakistani artist Mushaal in Rawalpindi in 2009. The two met while Yasin was on a tour of Pakistan in 2005.

Mushaal and her daughter reside in Islamabad. Born in 1985, Mushaal graduated from the London School of Economics.

Yasin was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in a terror funding case in May.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has approached the Delhi High Court seeking the death penalty for Yasin, who is serving his sentence in Tihar Jail in Delhi.