MT Desk: In an interview for “The Wire” hosted by senior journalist Karan Thapar, former Governor of IIOJK Satiya Pal Mailk   has made several explosive claims with regards to the Pulwama attack, PM Modi`s approach towards corruption, the appointments by the President`s Office and BJP leader Ram Madhav.

            Malik claimed that that the attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Pulwama was a result of “incompetence” of the CRPF and the Home Ministry at the time which was being helmed by Rajnath Singh.

Malik claimed that the CRPF had asked for five choppers for the jawans to be transported but the same were not approved by the Union Home Ministry.

            He further claimed that after he raised the lapses in a conversation with PM Modi, who at the time was in Jim Corbett, he was allegedly asked to "keep quiet." He said that National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval also called him as asked him to "not say anything on the issue."

            "I immediately realized that the blame was going to be put Pakistan, so I should `stay quiet`," he said. Malik also claimed that before the Abrogation of Article 370 that provided special status to J&K, he has told the PM that it would be a "mistake."

            The latest revelations made by Satya Pal Malik, the so-called former Governor of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), have once again vindicated Pakistan’s stance on the Pulwama Attack of February 2019.

            His disclosures demonstrate how the Indian leadership has habitually used the bogey of terrorism from Pakistan to advance its sham victimhood narrative and the Hindutva agenda, clearly for domestic political gains.

            Pakistan foreign spokesperson said that India must answer the questions raised in the latest revelations. It is time India be held accountable for the actions that imperiled regional peace in the aftermath of Pulwama attack.

            He further added that that international community would take cognizance of the latest revelations and see through India’s propaganda campaign against Pakistan driven by selfish political considerations and based on lies and deceit.

            Malik, the last so-called governor of IIOJK before it was divided and reduced to Union territory status, said “Mein safely keh sakta hoon Prime Minister ko corruption se bahut nafrat nahin hain” (‘I can safely say the PM has no real problem with corruption’).

            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 was “ill-informed” and “ignorant” about Kashmir and told him not to speak about the Union home ministry’s lapses which led to the devastating terrorist attack on soldiers in Pulwama in February 2019.

            During the interview, Malik revealed that the attack on the Central Reserve Police Force convoy in Pulwama was a result of “incompetence” by the Indian system and specifically the CRPF and the home ministry.

At the time, Rajnath Singh was home minister. Malik gave extensive details of how the CRPF had asked for aircraft to transport its jawans but was refused by the Union home ministry.           

            He also spoke of how sanitization 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 CorbettPark shortly after the Pulwama attack. He said the prime minister told him to keep quiet about this and not tell anyone. 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.

It definitely looks that Pulwama incident was planned by Indian Intelligence agencies because the car carrying 300 kilograms of RDX explosives had been travelling around the roads and villages of IIOJK for 10-15 days without being detected and without anyone knowing.

Malik also gave details of how, when he was governor of J&K, he was approached by the BJP-RSS leader Ram Madhav to clear a hydro-electric scheme and a Reliance insurance scheme. Malik said the prime minister was “ignorant” and “ill-informed” about Kashmir. He said removing IIOJK’s statehood was a mistake and it should be restored immediately. Speaking about Modi, Malik said “the prime minister is not at all concerned about corruption.”

            He said he was removed as governor of Goa in August 2020 and sent to Meghalaya because he had brought to the prime minister’s attention several instances of corruption which the government chose to ignore rather than tackle.