‘Ex-PM conveyed gratitude for meeting Hafiz Saeed’: Yasin Malik on Manmohan Singh

IN an affidavit submitted to the new delhi heights margaret court, Kashmiri separationist Yasin Malik has claimed he met former undercoat minister Manmohan Singh, who had expressed his gratitude for the time and efforts for meeting Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan.Yasin Malik, the then commander-in-chief of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Force Yasin Malik, claimed to have met LeT terrorist in 2006, according to the affidavit cited in an earlier HT report.'Ex-PM conveyed gratitude for meeting Hafiz Saeed'The affidavit, which contains these revelations and was submitted by Malik in the Delhi high court on August 25, carries details of his apparent meetings with former prime ministers, Union ministers, foreign diplomats, top Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials, and others involved in the central government’s efforts to maintain peace in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).Yasin Malik said he met LeT terrorist Hafiz Saeed, claiming the meeting took place at the behest of senior IB officials in India. Hafiz is a designated terrorist and the alleged mastermind of multiple terror attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed dozens.Also Read | Met Atal Behari Vajpayee in 1995, year after release from jail, claims Yasin MalikYasin Malik said he was invited for a meeting by former prime minister Manmohan Singh in February 2006 and was assured of a resolution to the Kashmir issue.“In February 2006, I was invited by PM Manmohan Singh in New Delhi for formal dialogue….During the meeting, the Indian premier told me that India was trying hard to resolve the Kashmir issue…PM Manmohan Singh told me. “Be assured Mr. Malik, I want to resolve this issue,” the earlier HT report quoted Yasin Malik's affidavit. Yasin Malik has claimed that he met Hafiz Saeed on the instruction of IB to work towards peace and debriefed former PM Manmohan Singh later.Yasin Malik said that he had informed the trial court about his scheduled visit to Pakistan to carry out humanitarian aid and relief work after the earthquake, adding that he was specifically requested to meet Hafiz Saeed as well as other militant leaders of Pakistan. “I was specifically requested for this meeting with Hafiz Saeed and other militant leaders of Pakistan…When I returned to New Delhi from Pakistan…I met PM Manmohan Singh the same evening…I briefed him on my meetings," Yasin Malik said.Malik said Manmohan Singh expressed his gratitude for the meet with Hafiz Saeed and other Pakistani militant leaders."He [Manmohan Singh] 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,” Yasin Malik wrote in the affidavit.Yasin Malik also said in the affidavit that he met former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee also. Malik said he spoke about Kashmir during his first meeting in 1995 with Atal Behari Vajpayee, who was the leader of opposition then, and asked him about the forces killing people there, to which he said he got a polite reply.“When I first met Atal Bihari Vajpayee (post my release in 1994), when he was leader of opposition in 1995. I was a young boy, your country had promised us to give us a democratic right but when we are asking for it, your forces are killing our people. In return his reply was so polite, he replied –– Yasin ji, kaache dhaage kaa hee sahi, hamare saath koi naa koi rishta zaroor rakhen (even if it is a fragile thread, do stay connected with us), and this had disarmed me [sic].”On August 11, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sought the death penalty for the separatist leader in a terror funding case. The court granted Yasin Malik four weeks to file his response and posted the matter for November 10. The government alleges that Yasin Malik, sentenced to life imprisonment in 2022, was involved in activities that were a threat to the country’s sovereignty and was closely linked to militancy in J&K.Malik is currently lodged in Tihar Jail.(Reported by Prawesh Lama)