In what could turn into a massive political storm, Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik has claimed that his meeting with terrorist Hafiz Saeed took place after the Intelligence Bureau (IB) asked him to do so to further the government’s peace efforts with Pakistan. Malik further claimed that the then PM Manmohan Singh thanked him for meeting Hafiz Saeed. 

Malik called the case against him an example of “classic betrayal”, adding that it was this meeting that was later twisted to brand him as a terrorist. Malik has now filed a fresh affidavit in the Delhi High Court making these all claims. Malik is serving a life sentence in a terror-funding case.

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What is the claim and case?

Yasin Malik met Hafiz Saeed, the chief of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiyya (LeT), in Pakistan during his visit for earthquake relief work. He claimed it was organised by the IB, adding that Special Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB), VK Joshi, met him in Delhi before his visit to Pakistan in 2006.

Malik said Joshi asked him to use the opportunity to engage with Pakistani leadership and terror group heads as well to further the peace efforts of the Manmohan Singh government.

Malik, in his affidavit, said that he personally briefed then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then National Security Advisor NK Narayanan.

“Despite working to strengthen the peace table, my meeting was later distorted to brand me a terrorist,” Malik said, calling it a case of “classic betrayal.” He further alleged that after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A, the 2006 meeting was shown out of context to back the UAPA case against him.

“When I met Manmohan Singh as PM, without any hesitation he said, I consider you father of the non-violent movement in Kashmir,” Malik said on a photograph of him shaking hands with Singh, quoted NDTV.

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‘If my death finally gives respite…’

In his affidavit, Malik said he was ready for the death penalty but he would go with a “smile”. “If my death finally gives respite to some, let it be so. I shall go with a smile but with pride and honour on my face,” he said. 

He compared himself with Kashmiri separatist leader Maqbool Bhat, who was executed in 1984. Quoting Shakespeare, he described death as the “ultimate endgame” of his struggle: “Be absolute for death; for either death or life shall be the sweeter.” 

The affidavit is in response to a plea by the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) appealing to enhance Malik’s life term to a death sentence in a 2017 terror-funding case.

The JKLF chief was sentenced to life term in 2022 after he pleaded guilty under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The trial court had held that his case did not qualify as “rarest of rare” for awarding the death penalty. The NIA’s case accused Malik and others, including Hafiz Saeed, Syed Salahuddin, and Shabbir Shah, of conspiring with Pakistan-based groups to fuel unrest in Kashmir. 

BJP attacks UPA government

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was quick to react and questioned the mode of diplomacy the Congress-led UPA government employed.

“Yasin Malik is a hardened terrorist who is guilty of gunning down three Air Force personnel in uniform. This amounts to waging war against the state and he must be subjected to the full force of the law,” BJP IT cell head, Amit Malviya, said in a post on X.

“If these new claims are true, they raise grave questions about the UPA’s handling of national security and back-channel diplomacy,” he added.