Srinagar: Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik has informed the Delhi High Court that following his 2006 meeting with Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan, he personally briefed then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then-National Security Advisor N.K. Narayanan. He claimed the meeting was later misrepresented to portray him as a terrorist.
Malik, currently serving a life sentence in a terror-funding case, submitted an affidavit stating that the meeting with Saeed and other leaders occurred at the behest of India’s Intelligence Bureau (IB) during his visit to Pakistan for earthquake relief work.
“Despite working to strengthen the peace process, my meeting was later distorted to brand me a terrorist,” Malik said, describing it as a “classic betrayal.”
He further alleged that after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A, the 2006 meeting was taken out of context to justify invoking the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against him, even though the talks had been conducted openly and reported to India’s top leadership.
In his affidavit, Malik also stated that he is ready to face the death penalty if imposed. “If my death finally brings respite to some, so be it. I shall face it with pride and honour,” he wrote, drawing a parallel with Kashmiri separatist leader Maqbool Bhat, who was executed in 1984. He described death as the “ultimate endgame” of his struggle, quoting Shakespeare: “Be absolute for death; for either death or life shall be the sweeter.”
The affidavit comes as the Delhi High Court considers the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) appeal seeking to upgrade Malik’s life sentence to the death penalty in a 2017 terror-funding case. The court has asked Malik to file his response by November 10.
Malik had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 2022 after pleading guilty under the UAPA. The trial court had ruled that the case did not meet the “rarest of rare” standard required for awarding the death penalty.
The NIA’s case alleged that Malik, along with Hafiz Saeed, Syed Salahuddin, and Shabbir Shah, conspired with Pakistan-based groups to incite unrest in Kashmir. Meanwhile, a UAPA tribunal recently extended the ban on JKLF for another five years, citing zero tolerance for organizations advocating secession.
