Satyapal Malik, the last governor of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir who had audaciously taken on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, passed away on Tuesday — the sixth anniversary of the seminal abrogation of Article 370 that he presided over. Malik was 79.
The bitter irony was not lost on many as it was during Malik’s tenure as governor that Jammu and Kashmir was sundered and demoted to a Union Territory against the backdrop of the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, over which he later fell foul of the Modi dispensation.
True to his socialist roots, Malik had been unpredictable and changeable — he had been subservient to the Modi-Shah regime as governor of Bihar and then Jammu and Kashmir, but upon being divested of his responsibilities, turned his ire on them.
Malik breathed his last at 1.12pm at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where he was admitted in early May with kidney-related complications. On June 8, Malik’s X account had shared a health update: “Halat bahut gambhir hai (Condition is very serious).” His death was announced on his X account by his associates.
Malik started his long political career in the socialist stable, getting elected as an MLA in 1974 from the Bharatiya Kranti Dal led by farmer leader Chaudhary Charan Singh. The defining moment of his political life came when Malik, bitter over his removal as Jammu and Kashmir governor, took on Modi over the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF soldiers died.
“I told the Prime Minister on the same evening (February 14, 2019) that this (Pulwama attack) happened because of our mistake. Told him that had we provided aircraft, this would not have happened. He told me, ‘Tum ab chup raho (You keep quiet now)’,” Malik said in an interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire in April 2023.
He also claimed that the home ministry, under Amit Shah, had refused to provide aircraft sought by the CRPF to ferry its personnel, which compelled them to take the road and turn into easy targets for militants.
Malik had also flagged “grave intelligence failure” in Pulwama, pointing out that the car carrying 300kg of RDX had come from Pakistan and managed to travel on roads and in villages for 10-15 days without being detected. His shocking claims had led the Opposition to launch a fierce attack on Modi and demand answers.
Modi posted on X on Tuesday: “Saddened by the passing away of Shri Satyapal Mailk Ji. My thoughts are with his family and supporters in this hour of grief. Om Shanti.”
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said: “I am deeply saddened to hear the news of the passing of former Governor Satyapal Malik ji. I will always remember him as a person who, until his last moment, fearlessly spoke the truth and advocated for the interests of the people. I express my deepest condolences to his family, supporters, and well-wishers.”
Malik served as the governor of Jammu and Kashmir from August 23, 2018, to October 30, 2019. Prior to that, he had been governor of Bihar. He retired as Meghalaya governor in October 2022. The leader from the agrarian Jat community joined the BJP in 2004 after stints in the socialist stable and also the Congress.
As the governor of Meghalaya, Malik had backed the farmers’ protest against the Modi government’s farm laws. Publicly, he had warned the government of serious consequences if it tried to suppress the protest.
“When I saw what all was happening in the matter of farmers, I couldn’t stop myself. I spoke and I told both the Prime Minister and the home minister, ‘Don’t send them back empty-handed because the Sikhs remember it for 300 years. Don’t use force against them’,” Malik had said in March 2021, addressing an event in western Uttar Pradesh, his home turf.
Later, Malik was named as an accused in a case of alleged corruption in the award of civil work worth ₹2,200 crore in connection with the Kiru hydropower project during his tenure as Jammu and Kashmir governor. Ironically, he was the “whistleblower and complainant” in the case.
Malik had in November 2021 alleged that he had been offered a bribe of ₹300 crore to clear two files when he was Jammu and Kashmir governor. A year later, the CBI registered two FIRs in connection with the corruption allegations levelled by Malik.
The CBI raided the premises of Malik in February last year when he was undergoing treatment in a hospital, ignoring his plea that he was the “complainant and whistleblower”. The CBI filed a chargesheet against Malik and five others in the corruption case in May this year while he was battling kidney ailments in the hospital.