The last Jammu and Kashmir governor Satyapal Malik's explosive interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire led to a political storm in the country. Malik made several revelations during the one-hour interview in which he said that the Prime Minister asked him to not speak about the Pulwama Attack, which was the result of “incompetence” and “laparvahi” at the system’s end.
By calling the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “ill-informed”, his close aides corrupt, and exposing severe security breaches at the government level that led to the Pulwama attack, Malik has invited sharp criticism from the ruling BJP. Malik also talked about Rahul Gandhi and the Adani row, noting that the Prime Minister had no words to utter in his defence of Rahul Gandhi’s stinging questions.
Now, the BJP has shared Malik’s statements and video clips from the past and attacked Malik for his “U-turn” saying that it raises questions about his credibility. BJP's I-T department head Amit Malviya shared several old clips of Malik praising the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"And before Congress minions get all excited about Satyapal Malik, their newfound knight in shining armour, here is what he had to say about Rahul Gandhi. So, sit down," Malviya tweeted with a video of Satyapal Malik where he had mocked Rahul Gandhi as a "political juvenile".
Besides calling Rahul Gandhi a "political juvenile", Malik says that people will "beat him with shoes" during elections if they were told he (Gandhi) supports Article 370, which was abrogated by the Modi government. In another tweet, Malviya said, "No one took him (Satyapal Malik) seriously even when he made these allegations back then. But it raises serious questions on his credibility."
The Opposition, following Malik’s interview, has raised a demand for information from the probe into the Pulwama incident. Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut said that Opposition leaders who had raised questions on the Pulwama attack were "silenced by the ruling BJP and called traitors."
Samajwadi Party also demanded answers on the "incompetence" of the BJP government in preventing the Pulwama attack.
Reinstating Malik’s allegations, the Congress accused PM Modi of "suppressing" the incident to "save" his personal image prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the BJP-led Union government is about "minimum governance and maximum silence" and sought a response and comments on Malik’s claim on the incident.
