Yasin Malik told the Delhi High Court that following his arrest in 1990, he was engaged by six successive governments, from VP Singh to Manmohan Singh, to discuss the Kashmir issue and explore possible resolutions.
Former Kashmir separatist leader Yasin Malik asserted that following his arrest in 1990, he was actively engaged by six successive governments, from VP Singh to Manmohan Singh, to discuss the Kashmir issue and seek resolutions.
In his testimony before the Delhi High Court, Malik stated that in 2006, he met with Pakistan-based terrorist Hafiz Saeed and other militants at the request of then Intelligence Bureau (IB) Special Director VK Joshi.
He explained,
“I was specifically requested for this meeting with Hafiz Saeed and other militant leaders of Pakistan on the pretext that militancy and peace dialogues cannot go in tandem, given the bomb blast which happened in the National Capital,”
Malik further claimed that after returning from this meeting, he briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and National Security Advisor NK Narayanan about his discussions.
The Prime Minister expressed gratitude for his “efforts, time, patience and dedication.”
He stated,
“I briefed him PM Manmohan Singh] on my meetings and appraised him on the possibilities, where he conveyed his gratitude to me for my efforts, time, patience, and dedication. But as luck would have it, this meeting of mine with Hafiz Saeed and other militant leaders of Pakistan, which was initiated and executed only on the request of Special Director IB VK Joshi, was portrayed in a different context against me,”
These claims were included in detailed written submissions he filed in response to a plea from the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is seeking the death penalty for him in a terror funding case. Although the submissions were filed under a sealed cover, the court had not issued any directives regarding this.
In his submissions, Malik also detailed his interactions with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government and meetings with then IB Special Director Ajit Doval.
He mentioned that Doval visited him in jail in the early 2000s to inform him of his impending release.
Malik said,
“Then Special IB Director Mr. Ajit Kumar Doval met me in New Delhi and arranged a meeting for me with IB Director Mr. Shyamal Dutta & Mr. Brajesh Mishra, National Security Advisor to the then Prime Minister. They both stated that our Prime Minister is serious in the talks process to resolve the Kashmir issue, and that I should support his Ramzan ceasefire,”
Additionally, he stated that he met Congress Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and opposition Communist leaders to garner support for Vajpayee’s peace process in Kashmir.
He submitted,
“In 2002, I initiated a signature campaign across Jammu & Kashmir aimed at promoting a Non-Violent Democratic Culture and advocating for the inclusion of Kashmiri leadership in dialogue to resolve the Kashmir dispute. It was a challenging endeavor, taking me two and a half years to visit every village, school, and college, resulting in the collection of 1.5 million signatures,”
After Congress came to power in 2004, he was invited by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a formal dialogue in 2006, during which Singh expressed his desire to resolve the Kashmir issue.
Following this meeting, Malik traveled to the U.S. to meet with State Department officials. However, soon after, PM Singh began facing backlash, prompting Malik to write to former PM Vajpayee.
In his written submissions, Malik also mentioned that he was engaged by governments to represent the Kashmir cause on international platforms.
Malik indicated,
“Not only was I provided a domestic platform to speak about the Kashmiri cause, but I was repeatedly encouraged by the governments in power to present our issues on international stages,”
He also refuted allegations of genocide and gang rape of Kashmiri Pandits, stating that he would take his own life if such allegations were true.
He declared,
“There are unsubstantiated claims that the Kashmiri Pandit’s exodus occurred due to the alleged genocide and gang initiated by me… I shall hang myself without any trial and pronounce my name to go down the annals of history as a blot and curse to mankind,”
Furthermore, Malik denied any support for stone-pelting following Burhan Wani’s encounter in Kashmir in 2016.
The case is scheduled for a hearing in the High Court in November.
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