Satya Pal Malik, the last governor of undivided Jammu and Kashmir, has made several explosive statements enough to create a political storm in the ruling BJP and the Central government.
In an interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire, Malik said that he was forced to be silent from talking about the lapses that led to the dreadful terrorist attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in February 2019 when he was governor of the state.
Malik’s revelation also includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stance on corruption apart from the PM being ill-informed and ignorant about Kashmir.
During his tenure as the governor of Jammu and Kashmir during the Pulwama terrorist attack in February 2019 and the revocation of Article 370 in August of the same year, Malik revealed that the prime minister lacked information and understanding about the situation in Kashmir. Furthermore, he claims that the prime minister instructed him to remain silent about the lapses of the Union home ministry, which led to the tragic terrorist attack in Pulwama.
Terming the attack on CRPF jawans in Pulwama the result of utter ignorance of the Indian system and specifically the CRPF and the home ministry, he said despite asking for aircraft, as demanded by the CRPF, to transport jawans, the Home Ministry rejected the request. Rajnath Singh was home minister when the attack had happened.
Most shocking among his claims was his realization that the attack was being turned towards Pakistan to blame them for the attack for the electoral benefit of the BJP. Malik said he was asked by PM Modi and NSA chief Ajit Doval to remain silent about the lapses in intelligence and the system regarding the Pulwama attack, as the party wanted to gain from it ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
According to Malik, there was a significant intelligence failure in the Pulwama attack since the car carrying 300 kilograms of RDX explosives came from Pakistan but managed to travel unnoticed on the roads and through villages of Jammu and Kashmir for 10-15 days. No one knew about its movements or detected its presence.
At one point in his interview, he talked about the RSS leader Ram Madhav and how did the RSS leader pursue him to clear a hydroelectric scheme and a Reliance insurance scheme when he was governor of Kashmir. Even after an abrupt refusal of his proposal, Malik said Madhav came to see him at seven in the morning to try and get him to change his mind. Malik says at the time people were telling him that he could get Rs 300 crores for clearing both schemes.
On PM Modi’s ignorance about Kashmir, Malik said PM was ill-informed and did lack knowledge and understanding that divesting Kashmir from its statehood was a mistake and he wanted the PM to restore it without delay.
He also accused the prime minister of being indifferent to corruption, citing his own removal from the governorship of Goa in August 2020 after he had informed Modi of several instances of corruption that were ignored by the government.
Malik claimed that corruption is rampant among the prime minister's associates, who often invoke the PMO's name. Despite bringing this to Modi's attention, Malik said that the PM seemed unconcerned.
He further alleged that all appointments made by President Droupadi Murmu are reviewed by the PMO, citing the incident when an appointment he had been given as governor was cancelled at the last minute while he was on his way to Rashtrapati Bhavan.