"Ex-PM Thanked Me For Meeting Hafiz Saeed": Yasin Malik's Explosive Claim

Yasin Malik, Manmohan Singh and Hafiz Saeed.

In a remarkable revelation, jailed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) terrorist Yasin Malik has claimed that former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh personally expressed gratitude to him following his 2006 meeting with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan.

NDTV has reviewed Malik's August 25 affidavit submitted to the Delhi High Court, wherein he asserts that his meeting with Saeed was not independently initiated but occurred at the behest of senior Indian intelligence officials as part of backchannel peace negotiations with Pakistan.

According to Malik's statement, then Intelligence Bureau (IB) Special Director V. K. Joshi met him in Delhi prior to his Pakistan visit following the devastating 2005 Kashmir earthquake. Joshi allegedly requested Malik to engage not only with Pakistani political leadership but also with terrorist figures, including Saeed, to support Prime Minister Singh's peace initiatives.

Malik claims he was explicitly informed that meaningful dialogue with Pakistan necessitated bringing terrorist leaders into the conversation. Acting on this request, he agreed to meet Saeed and other United Jihad Council leaders at a function in Pakistan.

In his affidavit, Malik describes how Saeed organized a gathering of jihadist groups where Malik delivered a speech advocating peace. Citing Islamic teachings, he reportedly urged reconciliation over violence, emphasizing that "if somebody offers you peace, purchase peace with him."

This meeting later became controversial when it was portrayed as evidence of Malik's connections to Pakistani terror organizations. Malik characterizes this as a "classic betrayal," insisting it was an officially sanctioned initiative subsequently distorted for political purposes.

The most contentious portion of Malik's statement concerns the aftermath of his return to India. He alleges that following an IB debriefing, he was requested to brief the Prime Minister directly.

Malik claims he met Singh that same evening in the presence of then National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan. During this meeting, Singh allegedly personally thanked him for his effort, patience, and dedication in engaging even with the most hardline elements in Pakistan.

"When I returned to New Delhi from Pakistan, Special Director IB V K Joshi as part of the debriefing exercise, met me in the hotel and requested me to immediately brief the Prime Minister," Malik stated.

"I met the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the same evening where N K Narayan, National Security Advisor, was also present. I briefed him on my meetings and appraised him on the possibilities, where he conveyed his gratitude to me for my efforts, time, patience and dedication," he added.

Regarding a photograph showing him shaking hands with Singh, the imprisoned terrorist stated: "When I met Manmohan Singh as PM, without any hesitation he said, I consider you father of non-violent movement in Kashmir."

Malik's affidavit also extensively details his meetings with numerous prominent political leaders, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sonia Gandhi, P Chidambaram, IK Gujral and Rajesh Pilot.

"After my arrest in 1990, I was actively engaged by six consecutive dispensations under the leadership of Shri VP Singh, Shri ChandraShekhar, Shri PV Narsimha Rao, Shri HD Devagauda, Shri Inder Kumar Gujral, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee till Shri Manmohan Singh. Not only I was provided domestic platform to speak about the Kashmiri cause, but I was actively roped in time and again by the said governments in power and was actively persuaded to speak on international platforms," he said.

If accurate, Malik's allegations raise profound questions about India's covert peace initiatives with Pakistan and how state institutions potentially utilized controversial separatist leaders and terrorists like him in 2006. Most significantly, his assertion that an Indian Prime Minister expressed gratitude following a meeting with one of the world's most notorious terrorists could ignite substantial political controversy.

Malik stands accused of killing four Indian Air Force officers in Srinagar in January 1990. He is also charged with kidnapping former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's daughter Rubiya Saeed. The exiled Kashmiri Pandit community has long held Malik responsible for the brutal ethnic cleansing and exodus from their homeland since 1990.

Currently, this affidavit represents a striking intersection of peace diplomacy, intelligence strategy, and terrorism's dark shadow - with Malik directly implicating India's former Prime Minister in his controversial encounter with Saeed.