Satya Pal Malik No More: The Man Who Took on Modi from Within...Eventually

Former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satya Pal Malik, passed away following a prolonged illness on 5 August.

(Photo: The Quint)

Former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satya Pal Malik, passed away following a prolonged illness on Tuesday, 5 August 2025. He had served as Governor of the erstwhile state when the Pulwama terror attack killed around 40 CRPF jawans in 2019.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader later became a vocal critic of the central government.

In his final years, he made several explosive revelations and accusations against the government. However, while he took on his own party leadership, he was not lenient towards the Opposition either — even though his demeanour towards them was eventually perceived as ‘soft’.

In an interview on 'Badi Badi Baatein' in February 2024, he spoke at length about his fallout with the party he had served for two decades.

You have spent two decades with the BJP - 2004-2014 and from 2014 to now. What is the major difference between these two decades? 

The difference is that the liberal leadership was ousted. and sent to the Margdarshak Mandal. The new leadership has no value system. Atal Ji and Advani Ji had a value system.

Where do you think the Congress is falling short?

The Congress isn't falling short anywhere. Rahul is doing as much as he can and he is doing well. I support him and I support his actions. But the Congress has become a lazy party now. The BJP does politics every day, every time. 

The Opposition does politics according to their whims and fancies whenever they like. I had given them the Pulwama issue. They did not pick it up. When the Pulwama incident (of 2019) happened, I told PM Modi it was our fault. He asked me to keep quiet about it.

I thought they would initiate a probe. A while later, NSA Ajit Doval called me and asked me to keep quiet too. He was with me in law school. There has been no probe since. They started taking political benefits from it right from the next day saying, "When you vote, remember the sacrifices of Pulwama soldiers."

I told the Opposition to raise the issue that it has been five years and the probe has gone nowhere as to why it happened, who was at fault, etc. Somebody's head had to roll for it. That never happened and the Opposition is not raising it either. 

You think the Opposition is not able to build momentum in its favour?

It isn't. There are many reasons for that which I cannot speak openly about. All of them have their bellies full. Either they have to fight or the newer generation has to, or the farmers and the poor have to. Those who don't have the machinery to fight, won't be able to. 

Talking about J&K, it's almost five years since the Abrogation of Article 370. What do you think has changed? Because the BJP keeps claiming that terrorism and stone pelting has stopped.

It is false. Terrorism has increased. You see something or the other keeps happening in Rajouri or Kupwara. All that had stopped when I was there. The stone pelting had stopped at that time. All the gains there are fizzling out. There should be development there, people should be taken in confidence.  That is not happening.

You have clarified your position on Pulwama several times. Many ask why you didn't speak up then.

They don't read well. The truth is, I had spoken up two hours after the incident. The PM was on a shoot at Jim Corbett National Park. He met me in the evening and asked about what happened. I thought there would be a probe. All this was while I was the Governor.  They had asked for 5 aircraft which they had denied. I would ferry stuck students in aircraft. If they hadn't taken the road, the incident would not have happened. 

Do you think you could have done something differently? If you would have resigned after raising the issue, would that not have sent a bigger political message? 

People say whatever they want to. If one is to look at it responsibly, I was the head of a state. I was not there to precipitate a crisis. I could only try to explain things. I did that. i spoke to the PM about that. But I cannot be expected to resign every day over everything. I highlighted it, and I spoke up.

Why do you think the BJP is so powerful today as a party? 

It's because they do politics full-time while the Opposition does it according to its whims. They come someday to do something, otherwise they don't do anything. The BJP has dedicated workers and they are working all the time.

People cite many reasons behind the BJP's power and growth - the party's ground-level reach, the use of central agencies, a weak Opposition... 

The Opposition is not weak, the Opposition is useless and sitting idle. They do nothing. They should explain what they did for the past 10 months. They did not start a movement.

Do you remember the first time you met PM Modi? When did you meet him for the very first time?

When he was the CM of Gujarat.

What do you remember about meeting him in those days? 

I used to admire him. He used to think of the betterment of the poor, the farmers. He had written to the PM for MSP. But he changed after he came to Delhi.

You voiced your criticism on party platforms and with PM Modi. You have raised issues of corruption in Bihar, Goa, and several other issues. When you did not get a resolution within the party, when was it did you think that you needed to go public? 

I thought about it for 10 days during the farmers' protests. I was thinking if I should speak because I was a Governor at that time. I ultimately decided that I would have to speak. I took my resignation with me at that time. I told him that the farmers were protesting at the borders for 4 months and that he should speak with them. He said it's alright, they will return at some point.

I also suggested that he could send someone to speak on his behalf but he said that they would return without talk. I told him that the farmers would not go back without talks and he was taken aback. I said that the Sikh Guru had sacrificed his four disciples but did not compromise. The Jats have vehemently protested against issues in the past. So, there is no point in picking up a fight with them and you need to hold discussions with them. He did not understand it then. But a few months later, he apologised and withdrew the laws.

What did you feel at that time?

At that time, I thought this was an incorrigible case and there was no point in banging my head against a wall. Then I started holding public meetings in Rajasthan, UP, and other places to articulate issues. 

The criticism that you have for the BJP, there are questions that why are these questions coming now? Are there any ambitions?

I just want to say that they need to see and read. I have always criticised or not. I criticised the same day when the Pulwama attack happened and I was holding a post then. I spoke up on farmers and I was holding a post then too. 

Those with any personal ambitions would keep quiet and speak when they are out. Speaking of ambitions, I won't take names but many parties approached me to contest elections and I have refused. I don't want to fight any election or have any posts. I did what I had to.