Jailed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik, serving a life sentence in a terror funding case, has made sensational allegations in an affidavit submitted to the Delhi High Court. Malik has claimed that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh personally thanked him after he met Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan in 2006.
Malik alleged that the meeting with Saeed was not his independent initiative but was held at the request of senior Indian intelligence officials as part of a backchannel peace process with Pakistan.
The Alleged Role of Intelligence Bureau
According to Malik, then Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), V. K. Joshi, met him in Delhi before his Pakistan visit in the aftermath of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. Malik claimed Mr Joshi requested him to engage not just with the Pakistani political leadership but also with terrorist figures, including Hafiz Saeed, to support Prime Minister Singh’s peace efforts.
Malik said he was told explicitly that dialogue with Pakistan could not be meaningful unless terrorist leaders were also part of the conversation. Acting on this request, he agreed to meet Saeed and other leaders of the United Jihad Council during his trip.
The Meeting With Hafiz Saeed
In his affidavit, Malik described how Saeed organised a gathering of jihadist groups in Pakistan, where Malik delivered a speech urging terrorists to embrace peace. Quoting Islamic teachings, he said he pressed for reconciliation over violence, stressing that “if somebody offers you peace, purchase peace with him.”
Malik said this meeting later became a flashpoint, as it was portrayed as evidence of his proximity to Pakistani terror groups. He called the episode a “classic betrayal,” insisting it was an officially sanctioned initiative that was later distorted for political purposes.
Prime Minister’s Alleged Response
Malik further claimed that after his return to India, he was asked to brief the Prime Minister directly following a debriefing with the IB.
“When I returned to New Delhi from Pakistan, Special Director IB V K Joshi as part of the debriefing exercise, met me in the hotel and requested me to immediately brief the Prime Minister,” Malik said.
“I met the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the same evening where N K Narayan, National Security Advisor, was also present. I briefed him on my meetings and appraised him on the possibilities, where he conveyed his gratitude to me for my efforts, time, patience and dedication,” he added.
On a photograph of him shaking hands with Singh, Malik remarked: “When I met Manmohan Singh as PM, without any hesitation he said, I consider you father of non-violent movement in Kashmir.”
Encounters With Political Leaders
In his affidavit, Malik also mentioned his interactions with several top political leaders, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sonia Gandhi, P. Chidambaram, I. K. Gujral, and Rajesh Pilot.
“After my arrest in 1990, I was actively engaged by six consecutive dispensations under the leadership of Shri VP Singh, Shri ChandraShekhar, Shri PV Narsimha Rao, Shri HD Devagauda, Shri Inder Kumar Gujral, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee till Shri Manmohan Singh. Not only I was provided domestic platform to speak about the Kashmiri cause, but I was actively roped in time and again by the said governments in power and was actively persuaded to speak on international platforms,” Malik said.
Political Fallout
Malik’s claims, if accurate, raise serious questions about the covert methods of India’s peace outreach with Pakistan and the extent to which state institutions relied on separatist leaders and terrorists like him in 2006. Most significantly, his assertion that a sitting Prime Minister expressed gratitude after a meeting with one of the world’s most wanted terrorists is likely to trigger a political storm.
Malik, accused of killing four Indian Air Force officers in Srinagar in January 1990 and of kidnapping former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s daughter Rubiya Saeed, has long been held responsible by the exiled Kashmiri Pandit community for the ethnic cleansing and exodus of their people since 1990.
For now, the affidavit stands as a startling intersection of peace diplomacy, intelligence strategy, and the shadow of terrorism with Malik placing former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh directly in the frame of his controversial encounter with Hafiz Saeed.
(With inputs from NDTV)
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