Indian Opposition up in arms after Kashmir ex-governor’s explosive interview

Opposition leaders raise sharp questions after Satyapal Malik's damning revelations about Narendra Modi: Malik says Pakistan was deliberately blamed for the attack

By: News Desk
Published: 10:02 AM, 15 Apr, 2023
Indian Opposition up in arms after Kashmir ex-governor’s explosive interview
Caption: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tribute to the CRPF jawans killed in the Pulwama attack, at AFS Palam in New Delhi, February 15, 2019.
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The explosive interview of former Occupied Kashmir governor, Satya Pal Malik, carried by The Wire earlier on Friday, triggered sharp reactions from Indian opposition parties and activists. Malik had said the Pulwama terror attack of February 2019, which cost the lives of 40 soldiers, was a result of the Narendra Modi government’s “incompetence” and a massive intelligence failure.

Sharing The Wire‘s interview, former Congress president, Rahul Gandhi, wrote on Twitter what Malik had said in his interview: “The Prime Minister does not hate corruption very much.”

The Congress party, on its official Twitter page, repeated the allegations made by Malik, and accused Modi of “suppressing” the incident to “save” his personal image ahead of the 2019 general elections.

“@narendramodi Ji, the Pulwama attack and the martyrdom of 40 brave hearts is because of the mistake of your government. If our jawans had got the aircraft, the terrorist plot would have failed. You had to take action for this mistake and you not only suppressed this matter but also started saving your image. The country is shocked to hear Satyapal Malik’s statement on Pulwama,” the post said in Hindi.

Congress Party MP and former minister, Manish Tewari, called the revelations made by Malik “very very disturbing”. On Twitter, he wrote: “I watched Former Jammu & Kashmir Governor @SatyapalMalik6 conversation very carefully with @KaranThapar. If what the Former Hon’ble Governor is saying is correct it is very very disturbing to say the least. It will play out very badly in the international arena.”

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and Rajya Sabha MP, Manoj Kumar Jha, also shared The Wire‘s interview on his Twitter page.

The Samajwadi Party’s spokesperson, Manoj Singh Kaka, also referred to the “incompetence” of the Modi government in preventing the Pulwama incident from happening. “When the brave soldiers of CRPF asked for aircraft, why was it not given? Who is responsible for the martyrdom of our martyrs?” he wrote in Hindi.

Another Congress leader and the party spokesperson, Salman Anees Soz, called it “massive revelations”. Taking to Twitter, he wrote, “The interview of Satya Pal Malik leaves no doubt that @rajnathsinghshould have at the very least resigned after Pulwama. Also, the security lapses are an indictment of the NSA, Ajit Doval aka James Bond. Massive revelations.”

The Congress’ spokesperson also commented on other allegations made by Malik about the conduct of Modi and his government. “Satya Pal Malik says that @rashtrapatibhvn visitor lists are cleared by @PMOIndia. Says the President is treated as a puppet. The allegations are incredible and direct!”

He also referred to Malik’s comments on the relationship shared by Gautam Adani and Modi. “Former J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik makes corruption allegations against @PMOIndia minister Jitendra Singh. This is in addition to Ram Madhav. Huge revelations! Will @narendramodi investigate or simply maintain Adani silence mode?”

The president of the Congress’ party’s youth wing, BV Srinivas, highlighted the silence of “nationalist Indian media channels” on holding prime-time debate on Malik’s revelations.

“How many nationalist Indian media channels are debating prime-time on the big revelation made by former J&K Governor & BJP Leader Shri Satyapal Malik about the truth of the Pulwama attack? Anyone??”

Supreme Court lawyer, Prashanth Bhushan, also took to Twitter to describe the interview as “deadly”.  “Deadly! Modi called him from outside Corbett Park shortly after the Pulwama attack. He said Modi told him to keep quiet about this & not tell anyone. Separately, he said that NSA Ajit Doval also told him to keep quiet & not talk about it: Gov Satyapal Malik.”

What exactly Malik said

Malik, who was governor during the Pulwama attack of February 2019 and the scrapping of Article 370 in August that year, said the prime minister is “ill-informed” and “ignorant” about Kashmir and told him not to speak about the home ministry’s lapses which led to the devastating attack on soldiers in Pulwama in February 2019. 

In a wide-ranging interview to Karan Thapar, Malik revealed that the attack on the Central Reserve Police Force convoy in Pulwama was a result of “incompetence” and “laparvahi” by the Indian system and specifically the CRPF and the home ministry. 

At the time, Rajnath Singh was the home minister. Malik gave extensive details of how the CRPF had asked for aircraft to transport its jawans but was refused by the home ministry. He also spoke of how sanitisation of the route was not done effectively. 

More importantly, he said all of these lapses were raised by him directly when Modi called him from outside Corbett Park shortly after the Pulwama attack. He said the prime minister told him to keep quiet about this and not tell anyone. Separately, Malik said that NSA Ajit Doval also told him to keep quiet and not talk about it. Malik said he immediately realised that the intention was to put the blame on Pakistan and derive electoral benefit for the government and the BJP.

Malik also said that there was grave intelligence failure in the Pulwama incident because the car carrying 300 kilograms of RDX explosives was travelling around the roads and villages of Jammu and Kashmir for 10-15 days without being detected and without anyone knowing.

The interview continues to generate a lot of reaction on Twitter, with many users seeking “answers” from the Modi government. Meanwhile, there has been no response either from the Indian government or from the rulilng Bharatiya Janata Party on the serious charges made by Malik.

Categories : South Asia

News Desk

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