Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik has claimed before the Delhi High Court that it is a distant thing to be a terrorist, but six Indian governments ranging from Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Manmohan Singh had repeatedly approached him to participate in peace initiative on Kashmir.
He alleged that the meetings organized by the Indian establishment were later demolished and depicted as conspirators.
Malik, who is serving a life imprisonment in the 2017 terror-funding case, made claims in detailed written presentations filed in response to the appeal of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), demanding a death sentence against him.
According to Malik, his conversation began in the early 2000s when the then Intelligence Bureau (IB) Special Director Ajit Doval met him in jail and expressed interest in the peace process of the Vajpayee government.
He said that Later Doval held meetings with IB Director Shyamal Dutta and National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra, who sought his support for the ceasefire in Ramadan.
Malik also recalled the meeting with leaders of various political parties, including Congress President Sonia Gandhi and opposition leftist leaders, to maintain consensus on Vajpayee’s peace initiative.
In 2002, he launched a signature campaign in Jammu and Kashmir to promote non-violent democratic culture, and claimed that he had collected 1.5 lakh signature in two and a half years.
The JKLF chief further stated that during the 2006 earthquake relief work visit to Pakistan, the IB requested him to meet Hafiz Saeed and other extremist leaders.
He claimed that he later informed the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and National Security Advisor NK Narayanan about the meeting. Malik told the court, “Despite working to strengthen the peace talks, later my meeting was distorted to call me a terrorist. This is a great betrayal.”
Malik also alleged that after canceling Article 370 and 35A, the 2006 meeting was taken out of the context to justify the allegations under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
In his affidavit, Malik announced that if he was sentenced to death, he was ready for him. He wrote, “If some people finally get relief from my death, then I will be smiling, but will go with pride and respect.”
He compared himself to Kashmiri separatist leader Maqbool Bhat, who was hanged in 1984. He described death as the “final stop” of his struggle and cited Shakespeare: “Be strong for death; because either death or life would be more sweet.”
The Delhi High Court is hearing the NIA’s plea to commit death penalty by increasing the sentence of life imprisonment. The bench had directed Malik to file his reply by 10 November.
Malik was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2022 after being convicted under UAPA. The lower court admitted that its case does not fall in the “rare to rare” category to punish the death.
The NIA has accused Malik and Hafiz Saeed, Syed Salahuddin and others including plotting with groups in Pakistan to spread unrest in Kashmir.
Earlier this year, a tribunal extended the ban on JKLF for the next five years, given that “no tolerance could be shown” to organizations advocating separatism.