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Separatist group Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front’s (JKLF) chief and terrorist Yasin Malik is serving a life sentence in a terror funding case.
Terror convict Yasin Malik claims former PM Manmohan Singh personally thanked him for meeting LeT founder Hafiz Saeed as part of a backchannel peace effort in an affidavit. (IMAGE: PTI)
An affidavit submitted in the Delhi High Court last month claimed that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “personally thanked and expressed gratitude” to chief of separatist group Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and terrorist Yasin Malik for meeting 26/11 plotter and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed.
The development was first reported by broadcaster NDTV, who accessed the affidavit, and it claims that the meeting was “not an independent initiative” but held “at the request of” highly placed Indian intelligence officials as “part of the backchannel peace process with Pakistan”.
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Malik claimed that the former Special Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB) VK Joshi met him in New Delhi before his Pakistan visit, as per the affidavit, following the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir.
The docuement claims that Joshi allegedly urged Malik to engage with both terrorist figures and the political leadership and Hafiz Saeed to support the former Prime Minister’s “peace efforts”.
He claims that it was outlined to him that dialogue with Pakistan could not be meaningful unless the talks included terrorist leaders and following him he agreed to meet Saeed and the other leaders of the United Jihad Council at a function in Pakistan.
Yasin Malik said in his affidavit that Saeed organised a meeting of jihadist groups where Malik gave a speech urging them to choose peace instead of violence, quoting Islamic teachings. He claimed that the meeting was used against him as evidence of links to Pakistani terror groups, which Malik called “a betrayal”, saying it had been an officially approved initiative that was misrepresented.
Malik’s statement claims that after he returned to India, following a debriefing with the IB, he was asked to brief the former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, directly.
He claimed he met Singh in New Delhi that evening, in the presence of then National Security Advisor MK Narayanan. During the meeting, he claimed, Singh personally thanked him for his effort, patience and dedication in engaging even with the most hardline elements in Pakistan.
“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 claims.
“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 further adds to his claim.
“When I met Manmohan Singh as PM, without any hesitation he said, I consider you father of non-violent movement in Kashmir,” Malik claimed, referring to a photo of him and former PM Singh, shaking hands.
Malik’s affidavit also mentions his meetings with top political leaders, including former Prime Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and IK Gujral, former home and finance minister P Chidambaram, another former home minister Rajesh Pilot and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.
“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 (Deve Gowda), 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,” he said.
Yasin Malik is accused of killing four Indian Air Force officers in Srinagar in January 1990. He is also accused of kidnapping Rubiya Saeed, the daughter of former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. He is also accused of genocide against Kashmiri Muslims.
About the Author
Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev…Read More
Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev… Read More
September 19, 2025, 11:03 IST
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