Yasin Malik Begged For His Life Before ISI, Lashkar-e-Taiba: Sources To NDTV

Yasin Malik, the leader of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).

Top intelligence sources revealed to NDTV that separatist leader Yasin Malik once begged for his life before Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

This significant event occurred in 2013 during a volatile period in Jammu and Kashmir's separatist movement.

According to intelligence information obtained by NDTV, Lashkar operative Hilal Dar from Sopore was assigned in 2012 to kill Malik. Following ISI directives, Dar conducted video surveillance of Malik's home at Maqbool Manzil in Srinagar's Maisuma area.

Sources indicated that the assassination plan was developed after Pakistan became suspicious that Malik was covertly collaborating with Indian agencies. Pakistan's mistrust of the JKLF leader intensified after the killing of Molvi Showkat, a close Malik associate, in a bicycle IED explosion near his residence.

Dar was captured in Srinagar following intelligence provided by Jammu and Kashmir Police in late 2012. During his confession, he stated that ISI and Lashkar jointly planned to eliminate Malik as he was reportedly working for India's Intelligence Bureau.

A critical moment arose in 2013 when Afzal Guru was executed in India for his involvement in the Parliament attack. Malik, who was in Pakistan at that time, immediately organized anti-India protests. Lashkar founder Hafiz Saeed joined these demonstrations. Sources disclosed that during these events, Malik privately pleaded with Saeed for mercy, vowing never again to work with Indian agencies and promising to follow ISI's instructions instead.

After Malik's return from Pakistan that year, the Indian government revoked his passport. His wife Mushaal Malik, a Pakistani citizen, was also denied a visa. Shortly thereafter, Malik—along with Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq—helped establish the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), an umbrella separatist organization. The JRL led widespread protests, shutdowns, stone-pelting incidents, and even targeted educational institutions, plunging Kashmir into prolonged unrest.

In 2017, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) initiated a comprehensive crackdown on the separatist network, arresting numerous leaders and intermediaries in Kashmir and Delhi. Two years later, the central government banned JKLF and arrested Malik. Since 2019, he has been imprisoned in Delhi's Tihar Jail on charges related to terror funding.

These disclosures provide a unique insight into the desperate maneuvers of one of Kashmir's most prominent terrorist-turned-separatist leaders and the clandestine influence of Pakistan's intelligence services on the Valley's decades-long conflict.