Yasin Malik says Indian officials told him to meet Hafiz Saeed; BJP and Congress blame each other over it
Yasin Malik claims to have met LeT terrorist Hafiz Saeed at the request of top IB officials in India.
Aadrika Tayal 
New Delhi (India) September 19: The Delhi High Court affidavit of terrorist Yasin Malik claims that Indian intelligence authorities requested that he meet with Hafiz Saeed. He is the leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba, in Pakistan. The affidavit was tweeted by BJP. In retaliation, the Congress asserts that the BJP and RSS had discussions with Malik when BJP was not even in power.
BJP’s Amit Malviya accuses UPA of compromising on national security
BJP IT chief Amit Malviya tweets Malik's affidavit. It mentions that Malik was told to brief then-prime minister Manmohan Singh upon his return. Singh appreciated Malik for his involvement in backchannel peace negotiations.
Malviya says, "If these new claims are true, they raise grave questions about the UPA’s handling of national security and back-channel diplomacy.”
Amit Malviya also mentions "he met Lashkar-e-Taiba founder and 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan in 2006.”
Congress calls BJP’s attack a “diversion” from vote deletion controversy
Congress spokesman Pawan Khera tweets hours after Amit Malviya's explosive accusations. He refers to the BJP attack as a "toolkit" to divert attention away from the "vote chori" accusations.
He tweets, “Toolkit to distract from #VoteChori exposed : Since morning, the BJP is selectively leaking parts of Yasin Malik’s affidavit to malign the image of Dr Manmohan Singh and the UPA. A Prime Minister - in this case, Dr. Manmohan Singh - extending courtesy to someone claiming to pursue peace should not raise eyebrows.”
Khera also posted a photo of Hurriyat leaders laughing with former BJP Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee.
He says, "If Dr Singh’s courtesy is to be questioned, perhaps BJP should explain Vajpayee Ji’s smiling photo-op with the Hurriyat leadership, or Advani Ji’s solemn pilgrimage to Jinnah’s grave in Karachi. Otherwise, we would all like to enjoy their silence for once.”
Malik’s affidavit claims backchannel talks with Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan at IB’s request
Yasin Malik claims that he had told the trial court about his planned trip to Pakistan to provide relief and humanitarian assistance after the earthquake. He also mentions that he had been especially asked to meet with Hafiz Saeed and other Pakistani militant leaders.
The affidavit also details his alleged meetings with top Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials, foreign diplomats, former prime ministers, Union ministers, and others engaged in the central government's efforts to keep Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) peaceful.
Yasin Malik strongly denied claims that he was involved in the mass rape or killing of Kashmiri Pandits during their exodus from the Valley.
He says, “There are unsubstantiated claims that the Kashmiri Pandits' exodus happened because of the alleged genocide and gang initiated by me… I shall hang myself without any trial and pronounce my name to go down the annals of history as a blot and curse to mankind.”
Court reviews NIA’s plea to convert Malik’s life sentence into death penalty
The document comes to light as the Delhi High Court reviews the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) request. It is to increase Yasin Malik's life sentence in the 2017 terror-funding case to the death penalty. Malik has been instructed by the court to reply by November 10. Malik entered a guilty plea under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in 2022 and received a life sentence.
