After the Pulwama incident on February 14, 2019, in which 40 members of the CRPF were killed, the former governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satya Pal Malik, claims he spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was told to keep quiet about various oversights he had pointed out.
The Congress demanded on Saturday that the government respond to the concerns and questions that Malik’s remarks had raised. The Congress had made the February 2019 Pulwama terror attack one of the key issues in the lead-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, pointing to “failure” of national security and the intelligence apparatus.
Malik, who served as governor of J&K from August 2018 to October 2019, claimed in an interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire on Friday that the Home Ministry had refused to provide five aircraft requested by the CRPF to transport its personnel, causing a large group of security personnel to travel by road in a convoy and become the target of a deadly terrorist ambush.
Since such a huge convoy often travels by air instead of on land, the CRPF had requested planes to transport its members, but the Home Ministry “refused to give,” according to Malik.”I would have given them the aircraft if they had asked for it. Deta kaise bi. They desired five planes. It wasn’t given,” remarked Malik.
“I explained to him that it was a mistake on our part and that I had already informed this to a few networks…Don’t mention all this, he commanded.Woh hume bolne do, yeh koi aur cheez hai. Malik uttered He had also been instructed to keep quiet by Ajit Doval, national security advisor. He murmured, “Yeh mat boliye, app chup rahiye.” He is a “classmate…He can inform me of anything…Satpal bhai yeh mat kaho, he said.I can tell you that I felt the entire burden was being placed on Pakistan, so I must remain silent, he stated.
“I recall that he was in the Corbett National Park…He was firing…There was no phone service available.He contacted me from a dhaba after leaving the place.asked me what happened Satpal. I stated that it had occurred.I am inconsolable.Yeh sirf galti se hua…If your airplane doesn’t land, you won’t get hurt. Aap, toh unhone kaha ki chup rahiye.
The Congress questioned the Government while citing Malik’s comments. After the incident in Pulwama, the main opposition party had focused heavily on the problem of security and intelligence failure, but the Indian Air Force’s bombing on Balakot on February 26 eclipsed this line of attack and changed the political narrative.