Meeting Masood Azhar at Srinagar in 1994

Yes, I am talking of the dreaded terrorist and Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar. He wasn't that notorious then. He had entered india via Bangladesh and reached Kashmir where he was trying to sort out differences between some militant groups. He was also guiding and motivating militant cadres. He was arrested during routine traffic checking at Khanabal in Anantnag district . It was probably in 1994 . Around that time the central govt decided to take groups of foreign diplomats to Srinagar to show the ground situation to them. The tours usually included an interaction with arrested militants too. Media persons too were invited.
It was during one of such meetings in the army officers' mess in the Badamibagh Cantonment in Srinagar that I went to a miltant sitting in one corner and asked him where he was from and what he did over there. "I work from Karachi though I belong to Bahawalpur and I am a sahafi (journalist). I edit two magazines", he said matter of factly. A journalist being a terrorist? I was surprised and announced to fellow journalists, "Come friends, we have a professional colleague among the miltants". Equally surprised,  almost all rushed to the corner and Masood Azhar was the centre of conversation for about half an hour.
"What brought you here? What type of discrimination you noticed with Kashmiri muslims?, Don't you think Kashmiris have more freedom and democracy than you have in Pakistan? Did you see anywhere people being prevented from offering namaz ?
What for you want to liberate Kashmir,went the usual run of the questions.
Masood Azhar's comments made good copy for all reporters. "We are not here to liberate Kashmir. We are here to islamise not only Kashmir but entire India and the world. Our volunteers are already working for the purpose in central asian countries like Kirghistan and Turkmenistan.  Our workers from several countries are working in Kashmir", he elaborated.
That was like a bombshell.
Some diplomats too turned that way seeking English translation of what Azhar said in Urdu. Army officers cut the conversation short as they felt their purpose was getting sidelined. Azhar asked us who we all were and concluded his narration with a sort of threat. "If you broadcast the news of me being in Kashmir , hundreds of militants would enter Kashmir to free me".
The news was published in several newspapers. I filed only a sanitised version. Whether or not Azhar's supporters entered Kashmir following that threat, several efforts were made to secure his release through coercive measures like kidnapping by militants. They succeeded in getting him released by hijacking an indian airlines plane to Kandhar in Afghanistan.That part of the story is too well known to need  detailed description.

(Ajeet Singh is a retired IIS Officer and  was Senior Correspondent, Radio Kashmir, Srinagar 1992-1998 )