New Delhi: Satyapal Malik can work as a “content writer” with an OTT platform, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said, reacting to the former Jammu and Kashmir governor’s remarks that he fears the Union government “could go to any extent” to win the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Speaking at a convention on “National Security Affairs” organised at the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi Tuesday, Malik said he fears the BJP “could go to any extent” to win the general elections next year, alleging that one cannot rule out an “attack on the (under-construction) Ram Mandir” in Ayodhya or an “orchestrated conflict with Pakistan”.
The event, organised by a collective of NGOs, was attended by Opposition leaders including Digvijaya Singh of the Congress and CPI(M) MP John Brittas, among others.
Presiding over the event, Malik said: “I have many apprehensions. They will do something or the other before the (2024 general) elections. It is their nature. They have done it in Gujarat and the country. They might hurl a grenade at the Ram Mandir. They might get a big BJP leader killed. There might also be an orchestrated conflict with Pakistan (ye Ram Mandir pe gola phenk sakte hai, ye kisi BJP ke bade neta ka qatl kara sakte hai…).”
Asked to comment on Malik’s remarks, BJP national spokesperson R.P. Singh told ThePrint, “He (Malik) should join one of these OTT platforms such as Netflix or Hotstar. He can be a content writer with such platforms.”
Malik was the governor of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir from 2018 till the abrogation of Article 370 after which the state was bifurcated into two Union Territories. In April this year, the 77-year-old stirred a row by claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval asked him to remain silent on alleged lapses leading to the 2019 Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.
On Tuesday, Malik reiterated those allegations, while adding that the “martyrdom of the jawans (killed in the Pulwama attack) was used by the PM during the 2019 polls for votes” and that the elections “were held on the bodies of our soldiers”.
Malik also questioned the the government for not holding anyone accountable for the attack that took place on 14 January, 2019.
“When the PM called at 5 pm (on the day of the attack) and asked what happened, I told him that the attack took place due to lapses on our part. He immediately asked me to keep quiet and not speak about the matter. NSA Doval, with whom I have studied, also hushed me up,” he alleged.
Malik, who served as the last governor of the J&K state before he was shifted to Goa in October 2019, claimed that contrary to reports that several intelligence inputs had surfaced, predicting a possible attack on the soldiers, he did not know that “Pulwama was about to happen”.
“But their (CRPF) application for getting the soldiers airlifted remained pending with the MHA for four months. Had I been taken into loop, I would have got it done,” Malik reiterated, adding that considering that “multiple lapses” led to the incident, “may heads should have rolled but till date no one has been held accountable”.
A former national vice-president of the BJP, Malik has emerged as one of the strongest critics of PM Modi in recent years. He hails from Baghpat, which comes under the sugarcane belt of western Uttar Pradesh.
In the past, he has been with the Lok Dal, Janata Dal, Congress and the Samajwadi Party at various points. He was questioned by the CBI in April this year in connection with his claim that he was offered a bribe of Rs 300 crore during his stint as the J&K Governor to clear two files.
Asked whether he faced any repercussions ever since he started speaking out against the government, Malik said his security has been downgraded, leaving him with only one personal guard.
“I also stay in a rented apartment. But I’m not scared of their threats, nor do I worry about my life. But if there is any attempt on my life, my people will take such a revenge that they will never forget. They must not forget that they will also retire some day. They should deal with me carefully,” he said.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)