The Bharatiya Janata Party has described the claim of Yasin Malik, the then head of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Force (JKLF), as “shocking” that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh thanked Malik for meeting Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET) founder Hafiz Saeed in 2006.
In the affidavit presented in the Delhi High Court, Malik, who is currently in Tihar Jail, said that after meeting Hafiz Saeed, he personally informed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and National Security Advisor MK Narayanan.
BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya, while sharing a post, described the development as “shocking” and claimed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed gratitude to the guilty of terrorist funding. Malaviya questioned the UPA government’s way of dealing with national security.
The BJP leader wrote, “Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) terrorist Yasin Malik, who is serving a life imprisonment in the case of terrorism, has shocked the shocking claim. Malik has said in an affidavit filed in Delhi High Court on August 25: Malik said: He was the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Mastermind Hafiz of 26/11 in Pakistan in 2006.”
He said, “This meeting was not his independent initiative, but was held under the secret peace process at the request of senior Indian intelligence officials. After the meeting, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh thanked him personally and thanked him.”
In addition, Malaviya demanded “full strength of law” against Malik and raised doubts on the then UPA government.
He wrote on X, “Yasin Malik is a dreaded terrorist who is guilty of shooting and killing three uniformed air force personnel. It is like a war against the state, and should be subjected to the full power of the law. If these new claims are true, they raise serious questions on the operation of national security and secret diplomacy of UPA.”
Malik, who is serving a life imprisonment in the case of financing terrorism, filed an affidavit claiming that a meeting with Saeed and other leaders took place at the request of India’s Intelligence Bureau (IB) during his visit to Pakistan for earthquake relief work.
Malik said, “Despite working to strengthen peace talks, my meeting was later distracted and called me a terrorist.” He described it as a case of “classic betrayal”.
He alleged that after canceling Article 370 and 35A, the 2006 meeting was shown out of the context to justify the UAPA against them, while they had openly interacted and reported to India’s top leadership.
This affidavit comes at a time when the Delhi High Court is hearing an appeal of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) that has demanded death sentence in a 2017 terror funding case. The bench has asked Malik to file his reply by 10 November.
