3 former PMs backed Vajpayee’s bold Kashmir peace initiative, Yasin Malik tells court

In his affidavit, Malik said he and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, another separatist leader, had met Sonia at her residence where former PM Manmohan Singh was also present. Malik submitted the affidavit to substantiate his claim that he had supported the resolution of the Kashmir dispute through dialogue, and that he never violated visa norms when he was issued a passport.

“Mirwaiz and I visited Delhi and met then Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi at her residence where Manmohan Singh was also present. Over the next few days, we met VP Singh, IK Gujral and Left leaders AB Bardhan and Prakash Karat. In all these meetings, we brought the entire opposition leadership on board to support Vajpayee's bold peace initiative,” Malik said in the affidavit, accessed by The Tribune.

The affidavit also narrates that Malik was shifted from Jodhpur jail to Tihar in 2000, where he was informed of his impending release. Soon after, Vajpayee announced a Ramzan ceasefire.

The chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), which was banned in 2019, Malik said then IB Special Director Ajit Doval facilitated meetings with IB Director Shyamal Dutta and NSA Brajesh Mishra, who told him that the PM was “serious about the talks” and wanted him to support the ceasefire.

The separatist leader said that RK Mishra of the Observer Research Foundation played a parallel role, hosting him at his Vasant Vihar residence and arranging a breakfast meeting with Brajesh Mishra. “A public statement was sought from me as the JKLF chairman, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leadership and if possible, from the Kashmir militant outfits (on the ceasefire),” he said.

Malik said he contacted JKLF’s Rafeeq Darr in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and arranged a phone call with United Jihad Council chief Syed Salahuddin. He said he advised Salahuddin not to oppose the ceasefire: “I suggested him to welcome the ceasefire with a rider of unconditional dialogue, as was going on with Naga militants.”

He also reached out to the APHC leadership in Srinagar. The executive council, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Abdul Ghani Lone, Mirwaiz Umar, Abbas Ansari and Malik himself, issued a joint statement backing Vajpayee’s move, with the condition that dialogue must follow. Even militant leaders in Muzaffarabad, he said, refrained from issuing negative statements.

The goodwill created by this consensus, Malik claimed, was marred by a fidayeen attack on Srinagar airport. RK Mishra, furious over the backlash faced by Vajpayee, told Malik the PM had been “humiliated”.

Malik said he told RK Mishra that the ceasefire was Vajpayee's own decision. “On his request, I helped to bring the entire political as well as Kashmir's militant leadership to support his bold move… If any fringe element wants to sabotage this initiative, then tell your PM to revoke the ceasefire and play into the hands of these fringe elements.”

In the days that followed, Malik said he and other Hurriyat leaders met senior Congress leaders at journalist Prem Shankar Jha’s residence. “Manmohan Singh and then Rajya Sabha chairperson Najma Heptullah were also invited. We discussed Vajpayee's peace initiative for three hours. At the end of the meeting, Manmohan asked me “what do you expect from us”? We replied simply, ‘As opposition, support the peace process fully.’ Within 24 hours, a Congress delegation headed by Manmohan met Vajpayee and openly endorsed his initiative,” the affidavit said.

Malik said the opposition’s support bolstered Vajpayee’s position. In the following weeks, he and Mirwaiz met Sonia, VP Singh, IK Gujral, AB Bardhan and Prakash Karat. Malik claimed these meetings created a rare consensus across the political spectrum. He claimed that Vajpayee and then Home Minister LK Advani issued him a passport in 2001, the first of his life, allowing him to travel to the US, UK, Saudi Arabia and even Pakistan with valid visas. “I travelled freely… speaking on the non-violent democratic peaceful struggle and the resolution of Kashmir issues through dialogue. I have never been found in violation of visa norms or have never absconded or fled,” he said.