Yasin Malik’s affidavit before Delhi High Court reveals ties with PMs, ministers and tycoons
PTC Web Desk: Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik has told the Delhi High Court that for nearly 30 years, he was not acting alone but was part of a carefully maintained backchannel with Indian Prime Ministers, ministers, intelligence officials, and business leaders. He claims this state-backed engagement is now being erased as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) seeks to upgrade his life sentence to a death penalty.
In an affidavit, Yasin Malik, chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and convicted in 2022 for receiving foreign funding and links with militant groups, outlined his version of events.
He described phone calls with Dhirubhai Ambani, secret meetings with Intelligence Bureau (IB) directors, dinners with Home Ministers, and briefings at the White House, insisting that he was encouraged and deployed by the Indian state to maintain a “peace track” in Kashmir.
Malik expressed acceptance of his current situation: “I understand the balance of scales isn’t tipped in my favour… being a diehard romantic, I would accept it as the ultimate endgame of my fate, gleefully.”
He highlighted how his current trial follows the abrogation of Article 370, which he says triggered fear, intimidation, and arrests of thousands, along with the reopening of old cases after 31 years.
Recalling his early 1990s experience, Malik said he was taken from Mehrauli sub-jail to a Delhi bungalow, where Home Minister Rajesh Pilot and IB officials, on orders from then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, urged him to give up arms. By 1994, he was released, announcing a unilateral ceasefire in Srinagar and committing to a peaceful, democratic struggle.
According to Malik, the state reciprocated by securing bail in 32 pending TADA cases and ensuring no prosecution followed. “This promise was honoured by five Prime Ministers, including the current PM during his first tenure. But after Article 370’s abrogation, everything changed,” he said.
Malik cited his contacts with Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s aide RK Mishra, who introduced him to Dhirubhai Ambani, and meetings with NSA Brajesh Mishra, IB Director Shyamal Dutta, and Congress leaders, including Manmohan Singh, Najma Heptullah, and Sonia Gandhi. He claimed Singh later called him “the father of the non-violent movement in Kashmir.”
He also mentioned international engagements, including meetings with US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca and White House officials, all coordinated with Indian authorities.
A particularly controversial claim involved his 2006 meeting with Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed, which Malik says was facilitated by IB Special Director V K Joshi to guide militants toward peace. Upon returning, he debriefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and NSA M K Narayan, who reportedly thanked him.
Malik further claimed that a Gmail account cited by the NIA to link him with a Pakistani handler was created by then IB Director Nischal Sandhu for sensitive communications. He urged the court to verify this.
He insists that for 25 years, the peace truce was honoured across governments led by Rao, Vajpayee, Gujral, Manmohan Singh, and Modi. Now, as the NIA seeks the death penalty, Malik says he will not resist: “If the state chooses to disengage and disassociate from me as it once engaged, I will accept it, with a smile.”
- With inputs from agencies
