File photo of Yasin Malik. (Photo/Official)
NEW DELHI, Sept 19:
Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik has alleged that his meeting with Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan took place on the instructions of the then Central Government, which, according to him, was keen to push forward the peace process in Jammu and Kashmir.
In an 85-page affidavit submitted before the Delhi High Court, Malik — chief of the proscribed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and currently lodged in Tihar Jail — gave a detailed account of his role in what he described as a “state-backed backchannel engagement” that spanned nearly three decades.
The affidavit was filed in response to the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) appeal seeking enhancement of his life imprisonment to death penalty in a terror funding case. Malik denied all allegations of financing terror, claiming that the agency failed to produce any credible evidence against him.
Malik asserted that after his release in 1994, he had announced a unilateral ceasefire with the assurance that all pending cases against him would be dropped. Since then, he claimed, every Prime Minister, including the incumbent, had respected this understanding during their first tenure in office.
He recounted that the Ramzan ceasefire announced by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2000–01 had faced sharp criticism but eventually received support from the Congress after he personally urged its leaders to back the initiative. Malik claimed that he, along with others, met former Prime Ministers V.P. Singh and I.K. Gujral as well as Left parties to rally consensus around Vajpayee’s peace initiative.
According to him, it was under a BJP government that he received his first passport, enabling him to travel abroad to the US and UK. He also highlighted his meetings with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who, he said, wanted to build on Vajpayee’s peace process but faced resistance from the opposition.
In his affidavit, Malik further alleged that the letter he wrote to Vajpayee — then Leader of Opposition — had explicitly acknowledged the BJP stalwart’s role in laying the foundation for India-Pakistan peace initiatives.
Malik maintained that his public meeting with Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan could not be construed as malicious. “Had my motives been sinister, I would not have travelled legally and met these leaders in the presence of international media,” he said.
The separatist leader also accused the state of attempting to “erase the history of engagement” and portrayed himself as a political scapegoat.📲 Follow our WhatsApp Channel
Source: PTI
Labels: Yasin Malik, Courts, Jammu & Kashmir
Tags: #YasinMalik #DelhiHighCourt #JKLF #HafizSaeed #NIA
Disclaimer: This news report is based on inputs from Press Trust of India (PTI) and verified public sources. Jammu News Portal strives for factual and authentic reporting, though we do not take responsibility for any inadvertent errors. Readers are encouraged to verify official communications for complete details.
Post a Comment