"Terror in J-K is courtesy of Congress": BJP's Ravinder Raina on Yasin Malik's affidavit to Delhi HC

Anantnag (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], September 21 (ANI): BJP leader Ravinder Raina on Sunday slammed Congress over Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik's claim that he briefed then PM Manmohan Singh after the Hafiz Saeed meeting.
Launching a scathing attack, Ravinder Raina accused Congress of letting terrorism spread in Jammu and Kashmir.
He said, "A person who is behind bars has submitted an affidavit in the court that the Congress government and the then Prime Minister sent him to Pakistan. It was Congress that made him meet heads of terrorist organisations. The terror in J&K and across the country is courtesy of the Congress party."
He added that Congress cannot be a party of "patriots."
"The Congress party loves terrorists. They can never be a party of patriots; this is why Congress is facing a downfall," he said.
BJP leader's attack comes after Yasin Malik told the Delhi High Court that after meeting Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan in 2006, he personally briefed then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then National Security Advisor N.K. Narayanan, yet the same meeting was later twisted to brand him a terrorist.
Malik, who is serving a life term in a terror-funding case, filed an affidavit claiming the meeting with Saeed and other leaders took place at the request of India's Intelligence Bureau (IB) during his Pakistan visit for earthquake relief work.
"Despite working to strengthen the peace table, my meeting was later distorted to brand me a terrorist," Malik said, calling it a case of "classic betrayal."
He claimed that he was repeatedly engaged by six successive Indian governments from VP Singh to Manmohan Singh to participate in peace initiatives on Kashmir.
According to Malik, his engagement began in the early 2000s when the then Intelligence Bureau (IB) Special Director Ajit Doval visited him in jail to convey the Vajpayee government's interest in a peace process. He said Doval later arranged meetings with IB Director Shyamal Dutta and National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra, who asked for his support for the Ramzan ceasefire. (ANI)