by Muslim Mirror Staff
Satya Pal Malik, the former governor of Jammu and Kashmir, recently stated in an interview with Karan Thapar that he had informed the Prime Minister that the Centre was responsible for the Pulwama attack due to their own negligence. Instead of addressing the issue, the Prime Minister allegedly silenced Malik by saying “tum abhi chup raho,” which translates to “you stay quiet for now.”
During the interview, Satya Pal Malik, who served as the governor of Jammu and Kashmir during the Pulwama terrorist attack and the revocation of Article 370, claimed that the Prime Minister lacks knowledge and understanding about Kashmir. Malik alleged that the Prime Minister instructed him not to discuss the lapses of the Union home ministry, which were responsible for the Pulwama attack that caused significant harm to the soldiers in February 2019. Malik also accused the Prime Minister of being uninformed and ignorant about the situation in Kashmir.
“I informed the Prime Minister on the same evening. It was our mistake as if we had provided aircraft, this incident could have been prevented. The Prime Minister told me, ‘You stay quiet for now…’ despite me already having mentioned this to a few news channels. He said, ‘Don’t talk about this, this is something else. Let us handle it…’ National security adviser Ajit Doval also advised me, ‘Don’t say anything about this. Stay quiet.’ I felt that the blame was being shifted towards Pakistan, so I decided to remain silent.”
“The CRPF personnel requested for aircraft to transport their people, as such a large convoy never travels by road… They approached the home ministry, but their request was denied… They only required five aircraft, which were not provided to them,” he said.
Malik said that he was not informed beforehand about the Modi government’s intention to revoke the state’s special status, but he was aware of the plan as it had been discussed and was already on the agenda.
“Only one day before the revocation of special status under Article 370, the home minister called me and informed that he would be sending a letter which I should get approved by the committee and send back before 11 am the following day,” Malik said.
Malik stated that if he had been consulted, he would have recommended against demoting Jammu and Kashmir to a Union Territory. He presumed that this was done because the Centre wanted to have control over the police, as they feared an uprising.
“When I informed the chief secretary about the letter from the home minister, he expressed concern that the police would rebel, and they might invade police stations and seize weapons. However, I assured him that I had worked for six months and was confident that there would be no opposition,” Malik recounted.
Malik mentioned that during his conversations with the Prime Minister regarding Kashmir in 2018, after Modi had been in power for four years, he observed that the Prime Minister had a lack of knowledge on the matter.
During the interview, Malik reiterated his previous accusations of corruption in an insurance deal and a power project that he had halted during his tenure as governor. He specifically mentioned a business group, a former minister of Jammu and Kashmir, and an RSS leader in connection with his claims. As a result of these allegations, the RSS leader filed a defamation lawsuit against Malik.
Malik stated that he could confidently say that the Prime Minister is not strongly against corruption. He further revealed that he was transferred from his post as governor of Goa just a week after he had lodged a complaint to Modi about alleged corruption in the region.
During the interview, Malik provided a detailed explanation of his decision to prevent Mehbooba Mufti from forming a new government despite her claim of having the support of 56 out of 87 members in the assembly. He further revealed that he dissolved the assembly in November 2018 instead of allowing her to form a government. Malik accused Mehbooba Mufti of lying at one point during the discussion. Additionally, he disclosed that the parties that were supposedly supporting Mehbooba Mufti, such as the National Conference, had separately urged him to dissolve the assembly because they were apprehensive of horse-trading.
“I did not have any communication with Modi during that time. When I was in Delhi, I was not able to access my office fax and there was no one there to manage it either. Later, my chief secretary and intelligence chief informed me that there was a majority and if a letter was sent, the oath could be administered. However, governments are not formed on Twitter, there are rules to be followed,” he said.
“I dissolved the Assembly after 8 pm, giving ample time for others to make their decisions. Farooq Abdullah’s party said they were going to Delhi and would decide later, while Ghulam Nabi Azad did not give a clear indication of their support. Only Mehbooba claimed that she had a majority, but there was a lot of horse trading happening.”
“She herself complained about it and demanded the dissolution of the Assembly. Farooq Abdullah also used to complain. If they were unable to maintain their majority, it was not my responsibility. Mehbooba is lying, she did not contact me during that time,” Malik said.
Malik, who had previously served as the governor of Meghalaya, expressed his disapproval of the way the Centre had handled the farmers’ movement and spoke out against the discriminatory comments and subtle messages targeting Muslims made by BJP ministers at both the central and state levels.
