In the name of struggle for Kashmir’s “azaadi”, Yasin Malik, the chief of one faction of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), wears many hats. He was a key member of Pakistan’s anti-India tactics in the late 1980s and early 1990s — dubbed ‘Operation Topac’, it was meant to bleed and Balkanise India. He was also among the first persons who took up arms for an ‘azaad’ Kashmir under the active guidance of Pakistan.

In 1994, Malik had a change of heart, though, when he unilaterally declared ceasefire and became an important member for the struggle by forming a political front: the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC). Since the late 1990s, he has admitted in some media interviews that he supports Gandhian struggle in the Valley — ironically, he met Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief and Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed in Islamabad during a fast, a la Gandhi, to protest Afzal Guru’s hanging.

But at the same time, and despite what many would call subterfuge Gandhianism, Malik has tactfully played into the hands of Pakistani intelligence.

Despite his change of heart over the last 18 years or so, as a student of militancy, Malik’s heart and mind has ostensibly never left the militant training indoctrinated by the Pakistan’s ISI. Rather, he wore it on his sleeves. And the latest evidence that his ‘militant card’ is still intact is his sharing the dais with Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai, in Islamabad on Sunday.

Having created uproar in India, the incident has led to demands for seizure and cancellation of Malik’s Indian passport. While there are indications that he would not be reissued a passport — Malik gets his passport on a yearly basis to meet his Pakistani wife Mushal Malik, and it expires next month — the JKLF chief himself has pooh-poohed the demands to revoke it. “If (the) Indian government has decided to revoke my passport (and) put me in jail, then it’s their wish. Jail has been my second home,” Malik has said as demands for action against him have snowballed.

In Kashmir’s separatist politics, it matters if you are in regular touch with Pakistani officials (read ISI) — and if you manage to meet terrorists like Saeed, then your career graph will only rise. That’s why APHC leaders frequently get red-carpet welcome in Pakistan. In nearly two decades, Malik has perfected the art of pursuing this ‘militant card’ under the garb of ‘Gandhian struggle’.

In September 2011, when Afzal Guru’s execution was hanging, thanks to the “politics of capital punishment” prevailing in Indian polity, Malik had said at a press conference in Srinagar: “The people of Kashmir have consciously and collectively moved away from violence to non-violence. There has been a collective transition from violence to non-violence…. I appeal to all political shades in India not to force Kashmiris into another extended phase of violence by hanging Afzal Guru.”

So what was the whole action about the protest against Afzal Guru’s execution in Islamabad, anti-India speeches there and sharing the dais with the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack? There is a view that Malik trying to score brownie points from Pakistan’s army and ISI officials by trying to show he is the best bet for them to deal with the Kashmir issue. With some other, newer leaders from the Valley also said to be enjoying the confidence of ISI for the Kashmir struggle, Malik is seen as trying to outsmart such ‘competitors’ by befriending a terrorist like Saeed.

Only last month, Saeed had said in an interview with Reuters that India was trying to destabilise Pakistan and had predicted that the violence in Kashmir could turn “ugly”. In the last few months, Saeed has set his eyes on Kashmir to stay relevant for the Pakistani army and ISI.

For India, which is already grappling with a volatile Pakistan, this new bonhomie between Yasin Malik and Hafiz Saeed could be a testy issue. Is New Delhi strong enough to put a lid on it? While Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru’s executions do show some signs, only time will tell whether the UPA government keep up the aggression as elections draw closer.