In what looks like a sudden decision cloaked in secrecy, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik on Monday left for Pakistan. The outfit said that Malik would meet “several important people” besides holding an exhibition of his last year’s campaign of Safar-e-Azadi (Freedom March) in Kashmir.Unlike in the past, this time the JKLF had not talked about Malik’s Pakistan plan of late. In fact, the completely unannounced-visit has come ahead of the Hurriyat doves’ proposed trip to Islamabad in mid-June on the invitation of Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoum Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Malik’s advanced visit — reportedly on Islamabad’s invitation — while pre-empting Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s unity initiative is also indicative of a subtle shift in Pakistan’s approach to separatists in Kashmir. That is, the end of Pervez Musharraf’s policy to play favourites between the separatist leadership of the state and instead focus on engaging all of them evenly.
