Will impound Yasin Malik's passport if requested, says MEA

New Delhi: Amid concerns over Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik sharing the dais with 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan and demands for revoking his passport, the external affairs ministry Tuesday said if it receives a request for impounding Malik's passport it would "act on it". The external affairs ministry said: "If we receive a request to impound his (Malik) passport, we will act on it."

Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said the passport was given to Malik, chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), after getting a "no objection" from other Indian ministries and agencies. "When violation (of provisions of passport) is indicated... when it is brought to our notice, we will act," he said, adding that the government would act with Malik "as fit of a citizen of India".

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded that Malik's passport be revoked for sharing the dais with Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed at a rally held to protest the execution of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday.