Why former J&K Guv Satyapal Malik may be taking Modi's critics for a ride

All this may be no more than Malik trying to get a second wind for his political career. As of now, it looks as if critics of the regime are being naïve in cheering him on

Former governor of Jammu & Kashmir Satyapal Malik has overnight become the toast of the town among critics of the present regime who find his charges a vindication of what they would like to believe. He confirms their worst "suspicions" about the terrorist attack in Pulwama in 2019, and they find it easy to agree with his allegations about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, the more they drink from the poisoned chalice so generously offered by Malik, the more they may harm any principled opposition to the Modi government.

Having been a beneficiary of the Modi government's largesse as governor for five long years in four states, one must question his objectives in delegitimising its leadership now. For starters, one might ask whether he is truly the loner he is projecting himself as or whether hidden political forces back him. The timing of his revelations should also raise some questions coinciding with the Adani imbroglio, which has considerably eroded the image of the BJP leadership.  

When Pulwama happened, he kept quiet even though, as the governor of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), he was the Chairman of the Unified Headquarters (UHQ). As the Chairman of UHQ, he should have been aware of the proposed movement of more than 2,500 CRPF personnel from Jammu to Srinagar. Why did he not call the then-home minister Rajnath Singh and demand that the CRPF personnel be airlifted from Jammu to Srinagar? And why did he not resign when the terrible tragedy occurred under his watch? His explanation that he kept quiet about Pulwama because the prime minister allegedly told him to do so suggests that he was all right with the spin the government allegedly wanted to give to the tragedy.

Above all, Malik has been unable to explain away his personal culpability for putting J&K under President's rule (later, Governor's rule) by not inviting Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti to form a government even though the chief secretary admittedly told him that she had the required numerical majority. His story about his fax-machine-not-being-manned on Eid is hardly more credible today than it was four years ago in October 2018. Malik clearly did the bidding of his masters in Delhi and helped pave the way for implementing the majoritarian Hindutva agenda of dismantling the only Muslim-majority state of India. Although he claims he was never consulted in the matter, what on earth does he think they were talking about when the unnamed people in the Prime Minister's Office repeatedly asked him, "If we do something, would anything happen (in J&K)?"

Is his complicity not more than evident by his signing the letter for removal of special status and bifurcation of the state on August 5, 2019, by 11 AM as directed by Delhi? What did his assurances to the chief secretary mean: "I told him that based on the work that we had done in the past six months, I was sure that even a dog wouldn't bark and a bird would not chirp." He was clearly a co-conspirator with Delhi in changing the status of J&K. His only quibble is that he was against removing statehood from J&K and bifurcating it.

While he denies that he cracked down on journalists, it is known that journalists were forced to file their copies through a centralised bank of computers controlled by his government. This was enforced by the internet shutdown and suspension of phone services under his tenure from August 4, 2019, onwards. The harassment of journalists and media personnel in J&K which started then continues even today.

Malik has made over-the-top claims earlier as well, only to recant them later. During the farmers' agitation, he quoted Amit Shah as having told him, "Satya Pal, iski akal maar rakhi hai logon ne -- Satyapal, he (the PM) is being misled by people". Later, however, he said that what he himself had attributed to Shah was "galat" (wrong or a lie), "I would like to retract my statement about Amit Shah because he did not say that to me". So, is he telling the truth now about being offered a Rs 300 crore bribe and calling a former finance minister of J&K a "wheeler-dealer", or will that also be recanted?

It is very curious that not a single minister of the Modi government has stood up against Malik's attack on the prime minister. They seemed to be watching the farce unfold from the sidelines. Even Rajnath Singh, who Malik blames directly for the death of 40 CRPF jawans in Pulwama, has not said a word.

All this may be no more than Malik trying to get a second wind for his political career. However, he may be acting on behalf of forces that believe Prime Minister Modi has become vulnerable after the Adani expose. Note that Malik's attacks against Prime Minister Modi have become increasingly personal, alleging that he was "ill-informed" and "ignorant" about J&K and that he had "no real problem with corruption."

Malik has nowhere taken a clear stand against Hindutva politics or the majoritarian political agenda of the BJP. One must assume, therefore, that he believes in it. Might he be an instrument of forces within Hindutva politics which are opposed to Prime Minister Modi -- a Trojan Horse creating a conducive context for the national rise of other Hindutva stars? There is one aspirant from his home state of Uttar Pradesh against whose espousal of police encounters and bulldozer justice against the minorities, Malik has nothing to say.

As of now, it looks as if critics of the regime are being naïve in cheering Malik on. Many are anxious and apprehensive about the developments in the country, but it is wishful thinking that everything unacceptable is centred around one leader because Malik says so. Such self-deception can lead to false optimism and a distorted understanding of emerging politics.