Met Vajpayee after jail release, claims Malik

A year after Kashmiri separatist and then commander-in-chief of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Force Yasin Malik was released from jail in 1994, he claimed to have met former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

- Prawesh Lama

“When I first met Atal Bihari Vajpayee (post my release in 1994), when he was leader of opposition in 1995. Iwas a young boy, your country had promised us to give us a democratic right but when we are asking for it, your forces are killing our people. In return his reply was so polite, he replied — Yasin ji, kaache dhaage kaa hee sahi, hamare saath koi naa koi rishta zaroor rakhne (even if is a fragile thread, do stay connected with us), and this had disarmed me.”

This revelation is part of an affidavit submitted by Malik in the Delhi high court which contains details of his apparent meetings with former prime ministers, Union ministers, foreign diplomats, top Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials, and others involved in the central government's efforts to maintain peace in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Malik also wrote that he met Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Hafiz Saced, claiming the meeting took place at the behest of senior IB officials in India. Saeed is a designated terrorist and the alleged mastermind behind multiple terror attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks