Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Kashmiri Separatist leader Yasin Malik, who is currently lodged at cell No. 7 of the Tihar Jail, has gone on a hunger strike since Friday as confirmed by the officials. Malik was convicted in connection with a 2017 terror funding case and sentenced to life imprisonment on May 25 by an NIA special court.
According to the official reports, when asked the reason behind his hunger strike, the official refrained from divulging any details further. However, prison sources stated that Malik is protesting against the agencies that are investigating his cases. Malik is alleging that his case is not being investigated properly, hence gone on an indefinite hunger strike.
Notably, Malik is not just separated from the outside world, he is even kept alone inside the prison, away from nearly 13,000 inmates there. Jail No. 7, where Malik is lodged, has been always in the limelight as it has housed several high-profile prisoners, including former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, former Union Minister A. Raja, Sahara head Subrata Roy, Christian Michel, among several others.
The Court in its order had awarded two life sentences and five punishments of 10 years of ‘Rigorous Imprisonment’ each to the convict. Rigorous imprisonment means confinement of the offender in a manner that increases the hardship of the jail term based upon the nature of the offence by subjecting the offender to special arrangements in the jail.
