The explosive interview of former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik, by The Wire elicited strong responses from opposition parties and activists.
Malik in the interview given to noted journalist Karan Thapar stated that the Pulwama terror assault in February 2019, which killed 40 troops, was the product of the Narendra Modi government’s ‘incompetencé’ and major intelligence failure.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shared The Wire‘s interview and reiterated the former Governor’s “The Prime Minister does not hate corruption very much” remarks.
On its official Twitter feed, the Congress party reiterated Malik’s charges and accused Modi of ‘suppressing’ the incident in order to “save” his personal image ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, made a mention of Malik’s remarks that the ‘Prime Minister had no problem with corruption’.
The AAP chief said that if a person picked by the Modi administration for high constitutional offices makes such a comment, it proves that the BJP does not prioritise corruption.
He was speaking to the press after the CBI summoned him in connection with the suspected Delhi liquor scandal. He claimed that the issue is without substance and is being utilised by the BJP to harm the AAP.
Bihar’s ruling RJD mentioned the interview in a tweet and remarked that the ‘Truth of Pulwama attack’ is coming out.
“The truth of 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,” the party tweeted.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said that while Malik had put out the “explosive truth about Pulwama,” he stated that opposition leaders who had posed these questions in the aftermath of the attack “had been silenced by the ruling BJP” and were dubbed as “traitors” and “speaking in the voice of Pakistan.”
Samajwadi Party spokesperson Manoj KAKA while sharing the interview on Twitter, posed questions on Satya Pal Malik’s allegation that aircrafts were not provided to the CRPF soldiers when they asked for them.
“When the brave soldiers of CRPF asked for aircraft, why was it not given? Who is responsible for the martyrdom of our martyrs?” he tweeted.
Satya Pal Malik, the last Governor of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir who oversaw heightened times that include the abrogation of Article 370, stated in the interview that the Prime Minister squelched him by saying “tum abhi chup raho” when he as governor reported that the Centre’s own mistakes were to blame for the Pulwama massacre.
Malik also said that the Prime Minister is ‘ill-informed’ and ‘does not hate corruption very much’ in an interview with journalist Karan Thapar for The Wire news portal that was posted on Friday night.
Malik mentioned the bombing of the CRPF convoy in Pulwama in February 2019 which claimed the lives of 40 jawans and was turned into an election issue by the BJP in the interview.
