India was stunned once again when jailed terrorist Yasin Malik revealed in an affidavit that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh personally thanked him for meeting 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan. The disclosure exposes not only the dangerous missteps of Congress-era policy but also the deep rot of appeasement politics that legitimised terrorists while silencing victims.
The Revelation
Malik, founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and convicted for terror funding, claimed that his meeting with Hafiz Saeed in 2006 was conducted at the behest of Indian intelligence officials. Upon his return, he said he was debriefed and immediately ushered into a meeting with the Prime Minister and National Security Advisor.
In Malik’s words:
“I briefed [the Prime Minister] on my meetings and appraised him on the possibilities, where he conveyed his gratitude to me for my efforts, time, patience and dedication.”
In other words, the head of India’s government extended thanks to a terrorist for holding talks with Pakistan’s most notorious jihadist.
Not an Isolated Meeting
This revelation was not an accident in policy, it was part of a pattern. Media reports and Malik’s own interviews confirm that he had met Manmohan Singh even before 2006, including once in Sonia Gandhi’s house in 2003. When he was invited to meet the PM officially, Malik even boasted that he would “consult his organisation in PoK and England” before deciding whether to grant the meeting.
This was no ordinary engagement. It was conducted like a summit between two heads of state. With senior ministers and officials, including the Home Minister, NSA, and Principal Secretary, present. A terrorist who orchestrated the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits was treated as a legitimate stakeholder, while the Pandits themselves had no seat at the table.
The Black Humour of Appeasement
The irony is grotesque. At a time when Hafiz Saeed and Syed Salahuddin were spearheading cross-border terror. India’s highest leadership was nudging Malik to engage with them. Malik was even given a ceremonial welcome by Lashkar-e-Taiba cadres across the border. Hafiz Saeed, the butcher behind Mumbai 26/11, was elevated into a dialogue partner. While Kashmiri Hindus, the true victims of jihad, were ignored.
This was not statesmanship. This was appeasement masquerading as peace; black humour played on the blood of innocents.
The Real Cost
For Kashmiri Hindus who lost their homes, families, and identity in the exodus of the 1990s, this revelation is salt on open wounds. Their killers were rewarded with political legitimacy. Victims’ voices were silenced while Delhi elite circles glorified terrorists as “peace messengers.”
History has shown the consequences of such indulgence. Far from stopping terror, these policies emboldened Pakistan-backed networks, allowing Lashkar and Jaish to expand their reach. The very terrorists once courted as “stakeholders” went on to mastermind attacks that killed thousands of Indians.
A Stark Contrast
It is worth remembering that today’s government has taken a radically different path. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, terrorists like Yasin Malik face life imprisonment, and Hafiz Saeed rots in Pakistani jails under global pressure led by India. The doctrine has shifted from appeasement to zero tolerance.
Congress may have once legitimised killers in the name of dialogue. But Bharat has learned the lesson: peace can never be bought by prostration.
Final Thoughts
The Yasin Malik affidavit is not merely a footnote; it is a reminder of how dangerously misguided, or perhaps a deliberate strategy, our leadership once was. When a Prime Minister of India thanked a terrorist for meeting Hafiz Saeed. The message was clear: the State had abandoned its own people in the pursuit of hollow optics.
Today, as the nation rebuilds its confidence and asserts its sovereignty, this history must not be forgotten. For it proves one thing beyond doubt: when India bowed to terrorists, it bled. When it stood firm, it began to heal.
