Yasin Malik: Rebel, Peacemaker Unraveling the Layers Behind Kashmir’s Most Controversial Leader:

For over 30 years, Yasin Malik has been a prominent face of the Kashmir separatist movement, rising from a street protester in Srinagar to the leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), once spearheading the armed struggle against Indian rule. Today, he sits in Tihar Jail, serving a life sentence, but a recent court affidavit filed by him has shaken up the already complex Kashmir narrative. In an 84-page affidavit, Malik claims he was not just a militant-turned-peacemaker, but someone who had deep, long-standing connections with Indian intelligence and political leadership. At the heart of his revelations is a stunning question: Was Yasin Malik secretly an Indian asset all along? Malik says his shift from militancy to nonviolent resistance in 1994 wasn’t a unilateral decision, but part of a tacit understanding with the Indian state. After his 1990 arrest, Malik alleges that he was held in a government guest house in Delhi and met frequently by top Indian officials. He was even urged to dine with then Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, who asked him to abandon the gun and adopt peaceful means. According to Malik, he engaged with five Indian prime ministers—across party lines—including Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, both of whom were involved in peace dialogues with Pakistan. Malik claims that as long as he adhered to peaceful means, the Indian government assured him of amnesty, and charges related to past militancy were quietly dropped. However, in 2019, everything changed. Following the Pulwama attack, where 40 Indian soldiers were killed, Malik was arrested and the JKLF was banned. Old cases—including the 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed and the killing of four IAF personnel—were reopened. In 2022, he was given two life sentences, along with several other punishments. His recent affidavit was filed in response to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) seeking the death penalty. He says the Indian state is betraying a long-standing agreement, branding him a terrorist after decades of political cooperation. Some of his claims are particularly eye-opening. For instance, Malik says his 2006 meeting with Hafiz Saeed, the Pakistan-based founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, was arranged by Indian intelligence as part of a peace initiative. He also alleges that during the 2016 unrest after militant Burhan Wani’s killing, he met separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani to help reduce tensions—on New Delhi’s approval. Even more surprisingly, Malik talks about secret backchannel talks with Indian business tycoon Dhirubhai Ambani, who feared tensions in Kashmir might threaten his refinery project in Gujarat. Malik also says he was issued an Indian passport in 2001, allowing him to travel abroad with government knowledge. Reactions to Malik’s revelations have been mixed. Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, sister of Rubaiya Sayeed, has appealed for a “compassionate view” of his case, saying India often uses individuals for political gain and discards them later. She compared Malik’s situation to Afzal Guru, another Kashmiri who was hanged in 2013 amid questions about due process. However, critics like Ajai Sahni, a Delhi-based security analyst, say Malik's affidavit only exposes him as a man who played both sides, questioning his integrity and suggesting that his cooperation with the state was opportunistic. Journalists and former intelligence officials, however, admit that Malik’s claims are plausible, and reflect the “smoke-and-mirrors” reality of conflict zones like Kashmir. A.S. Dulat, former RAW chief, said that all governments tried to engage people like Malik in hopes of peace. In the end, Malik’s story reflects the complex web of trust, betrayal, and backchannel politics that has long defined the Kashmir conflict. Whether seen as a traitor, peacemaker, or pawn in a larger geopolitical game, Malik’s revelations pose uncomfortable questions about how India has managed, and perhaps manipulated, the Kashmir issue over decades.

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