Satya Pal Malik: The Man Whose Political Obituary Was Written While He Was Alive

I last met him exactly a year ago, in his modest two-bedroom flat in RK Puram, writes Rohin Kumar.

From Article 370 to farmers’ protests, Satyapal Malik’s legacy is shaped by loyalty, betrayal, and defiance.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

Satya Pal Malik, the last Governor of Jammu and Kashmir before it was stripped of its statehood and special status in 2019, passed away in Delhi at the age of 79, following a prolonged kidney-related illness.

Coincidentally, he died on 5 August—the same day that, six years ago, Article 370 was abrogated. Malik was one of the key protagonists of that historical shift.

I last met him exactly a year ago, in his modest two-bedroom flat in RK Puram, Delhi. He was visibly unwell and could barely walk on his own. To see a seasoned politician with an experience of five decades, who had been a Member of Parliament for 40 years, held ministerial positions, and served as Governor in five states (Odisha, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, and Meghalaya), confined to a two-bedroom house, was quite unusual.

Despite being someone who had been central to one of India’s most critical decisions regarding the complete merger of Jammu and Kashmir with India, Malik had no security, and struggled to afford the best medical treatment in a private hospital. This troubled many of his close aides, including his friends and colleagues across political parties.

Malik had become estranged from the very government he once loyally served. He spoke candidly to me that day about his time in Kashmir, his fallouts with the Prime Minister, the corruption in the system, and his growing isolation from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Poetic Justice?

Satya Pal Malik would be the most sought after Governor after Jagmohan— another figure was made central to Jammu and Kashmir’s political transition at the behest of the Central government of the day.

Malik became a Governor-at-ease for the Narendra Modi government, who could execute its plan without political disruption. He later confirmed to me that he was informed of the plan to revoke Article 370 well in advance. Yet, he maintained silence in the critical days leading up to it.

He continued to meet senior politicians from Jammu and Kashmir, including former Chief Ministers, even as the Valley was gripped by fear and uncertainty in August 2019. But publicly, he remained tight-lipped. Malik’s loyalty to the BJP and Prime Minister Modi eventually cost him his reputation.

Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, called Malik a liar, saying, "Satya Pal Malik didn’t just lie to us in a closed room, but lied to the entire country and the world through the media. He said, there was no threat to the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, even though he knew that it was going to happen in a few days."

Malik admitted that he did not consult the elected representatives of the region before recommending the abrogation, saying,

“They would’ve never let it happen... they had scared the Centre by saying there would be bodies on the streets if 370 was removed.”

Satya Pal Malik

He told me his contribution was that he had brought a ‘sense of fatigue’ to the militancy, and according to him, it was necessary to integrate Kashmir fully with India.

BJP’s Utility to Liability

Malik’s attitude towards Kashmir—be it the fax machine episode leading up to the dissolving of the Assembly in 2018, ordering harsh crackdowns, or encouraging army retaliation or the abrogation—continues to resonate with Kashmiris as a collective sense of betrayal by India. Malik was instrumental in all of it.

Malik switched from the Samajwadi Party to the BJP in 2004 and contested the Lok Sabha election against his mentor Chaudhary Charan Singh’s son, Ajit Singh, from Baghpat.

Interestingly, he himself was a discovery by Chaudhary Charan Singh, and won his first Assembly election from Baghpat in 1974 on a Bharatiya Kranti Dal ticket. He joined the Congress in the 1980s and continued until the Bofors scam rocked the country. He joined the Janata Dal, won Lok Sabha seat in 1989 from Aligarh, and secured a ministerial berth in VP Singh’s government.

Despite a long electoral drought, he remained loyal to the BJP. The party appointed him as national vice-president in 2012, the same year as the Muzaffarnagar riots, which played a significant part in the rise of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, and later central to the party's fortunes in the 2014 general elections.

Malik was the prominent Jat face of the party. He worked closely with then-party president Amit Shah, to expand the BJP’s base in the sugarcane belt.

A Farmer’s Voice

Always known for holding an independent view on farmer issues, Malik’s first strife appeared on the farmer laws. Then the Governor of Meghalaya, he said he was disturbed by the way the BJP was handling the farmers' protest. He criticised the government in 2021 saying,

“No condolences had been offered to the families of over 600 farmers who died during the year-long protests against the three farm laws. As a farmer’s son, I had warned the leadership not to resort to violence.”

Satya Pal Malik

Pulwama and Whistleblowing

The relationship between him and the BJP further worsened with his explosive claims about the Pulwama terror attack, where he said that it resulted from “our own failure” and that the Prime Minister had asked him to stay silent.

“National Security Advisor Ajit Doval also called me and reiterated that I should not speak out, assuring an investigation would follow.”

Satya Pal Malik

Malik alleged that the CRPF had asked for air transport, which the Ministry of Home Affairs denied, leading to the convoy’s vulnerability.

The System Turned Against Him

His revelations on Pulwama were the last nail in the coffin. Leaders within the BJP had stopped communicating with him. He even alleged that he was put under surveillance. He was framed under corruption charges. He was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over allegations in a hydroelectric project deal, allegations he claimed stemmed from his whistleblowing.

“They searched my home, seized phones. But they found nothing. I have only five pairs of kurta pajama,” he had said with a smile on his face.

Just a couple of months before his death too, he reiterated his statements on Pulwama, informing the Prime Minister about corruption in Kashmir and solidarity with farmers, and accused the government of political vendetta.

“The government is trying to frame me in false charge sheets by showing the fear of the CBI. The tender they want to implicate me in was one I personally cancelled. The government has put all its strength into defaming me. My request to the government and its agencies is to please tell the truth to the beloved people of my country—what did you find against me in your investigations?”

Satya Pal Malik

Contested Legacy

He was deeply pained by the accusations of corruption, as his life was strikingly modest for the powerful offices he held in his career. He would often say, after serving the nation in high positions for over 50 years of political life, that if he wanted, he would have amassed wealth and would not be getting treatment in a government hospital but in a private hospital.

It would not be wrong to say that in many ways, Satya Pal Malik's political obituary had been written while he was alive.

While his legacy in Kashmir will always be contested, he will be held in high regard within farming communities for his solidarity when it was most needed.

(Rohin Kumar is an author and independent journalist writing about humanitarian crises. This is an opinion piece. The views expressed above are the authors' own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)