In a wide-ranging interview with Karan Thapar, the former governor revealed that the attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Pulwama was a result of “incompetence” and “laparvahi” by the Indian system and specifically the CRPF and the home ministry.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – A day after former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satyapal Malik claimed that the 2019 Pulwama terror attack could have been averted if not for the government’s negligence and incompetence, several opposition leaders have come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Congress asking him to break his silence over the issue.
Forty soldiers died in the Pulwama terror attack that occurred when a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel on the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethapora in the Pulwama district of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Malik, who was governor during the Pulwama attack in February and the scrapping of Article 370 in August 2019, said the prime minister is “ill-informed” and “ignorant” about Kashmir and told him not to speak about the Union home ministry’s lapses.
In a wide-ranging interview with Karan Thapar, the former governor revealed that the attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) 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 Union home ministry. He also spoke of how sanitisation of the route was not done effectively.
Malik said all of the 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 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 kg of RDX explosives had come from Pakistan but was travelling around the roads and villages of Jammu and Kashmir for 10-15 days without being detected and without anyone knowing.
The Congress party, on its official Twitter page, repeated Malik’s allegations 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 leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Supriya Shirnate asked the prime minister to break his silence on Malik’s allegations. Ramesh said the Modi government’s principle was “Minimum Governance, Maximum Silence”, while Khera spun the prime minister’s recent statement in the Lok Sabha “Ek akela kitno ko bhari pad raha hai (Modi is stronger than the whole opposition)” to say that his silence on the Pulwama attack and allegations of corruption made by Malik proves that “Ek akela, poore loktantra pe bhaari (Modi is above the entire democratic set-up).”
The Congress leaders took turns to criticise the Union government and asked the prime minister to clear the cloud of confusion around the deadly Pulwama attack as soon as possible, as it was a serious national security matter.
Khera said that Malik’s allegations could not be brushed aside as he was a senior BJP leader who served in important offices – and despite his critical comments, hasn’t been expelled from the BJP yet. “He (Malik) served as governor of four states. When he spoke out against widespread corruption in the BJP-ruled Goa, he was immediately flown out of the state and appointed as the governor of Meghalaya,” said Ramesh.
Shrinate asked the Union government to come clean on the Pulwama issue.
“Why were the arterial roads leading to the convoy not sanitised properly? How did the terrorist carrying 300 kg of RDX not come under the radar? Why did the defence ministry refuse aircraft to carry our soldiers? We can’t let go of the fact that 40 soldiers were martyred because of the government’s negligence,” Shrinate said.
Manish Tewari, Congress MP and former Union minister, tweeted that Malik’s revelations were “very very disturbing”.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal referred to Malik’s comments that the prime minister does not have a problem with corruption. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said that if a person who was chosen by the Modi government for high constitutional posts makes such a statement, it shows that corruption is not a priority for the BJP.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Rajya Sabha MP, Manoj Kumar Jha, also shared The Wire‘s interview on his Twitter page.
The RJD tweeted through its official account in Hindi, “The truth of the Pulwama attack is coming out. The real face of fake and gimmicky Sanghi nationalists is coming to the fore. Everyone is understanding why Pulwama happened before the Lok Sabha elections.”
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut said Malik had brought out the “explosive truth about Pulwama.” He pointed out that opposition leaders who had asked these questions in the aftermath of the attack “were silenced by the ruling BJP” and dubbed as “traitors” and “speaking in the voice of Pakistan.”
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 Satyapal 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. “Satyapal 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 Satyapal 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?”
Another Congress MP, Karti Chidambaram, asked on Twitter, “What’s the secret Kavach & Astra #Satyapalmalik has?”
The president of the Congress party’s youth wing, B.V. Srinivas, highlighted the silence of “nationalist Indian media channels” on holding the prime-time debate on Malik’s revelations.
Supreme Court lawyer, Prashant 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¬ talk about it: Gov Satyapal Malik.”
