Jailed separatist leader and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik has made serious claims in an affidavit submitted to the Delhi High Court. According to media reports citing the affidavit, Malik said that his 2006 meeting with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan was not personal but was done at the request of Indian intelligence officials.

Malik further claimed that after the meeting, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh personally thanked him for his role in the peace process with Pakistan.

In his affidavit, Malik said that then Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), V.K. Joshi, met him in Delhi ahead of his Pakistan visit in the aftermath of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake.

According to Malik, Joshi asked him to reach out to Pakistani political leaders and terror figures, including Saeed, to strengthen Singh’s peace initiative.

He added that officials told him peace talks would only move forward if terrorist leaders were also brought into the dialogue.

Meeting with Hafiz Saeed

On the insistence of Indian authorities, Malik said he met Hafiz Saeed and members of the United Jihad Council at a public event in Pakistan.

Malik claimed that during the gathering, Saeed organised a meeting of jihadist groups where he himself gave a speech. In it, Malik said he urged terrorists to shun violence, quoting Islamic teachings that denounce bloodshed, and encouraged them to consider peace.

Despite the meeting being organised with official knowledge, Malik claimed it was later used against him as proof of his links with Pakistani terror outfits.

He termed the incident a “classic betrayal” and insisted the meeting had full sanction from Indian authorities.