Satya Pal Malik’s Scathing The Wire Interview Slams Modi Over Pahalgam Attack

0Shares

Home Minister of India Amit Shah paying his last respects to the deceased of Pahalgam terror attack of April 22, 2025. Photo: PIB

Satya Pal Malik’s Scathing The Wire Interview Slams Modi Over Pahalgam Attack

RMN News Story Highlights

Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik called PM Modi “besharam” and “darpok” in a Wire interview, stating Modi “must apologize” for the Pahalgam attack, which Malik attributed to security failures.
A terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on April 22, 2025, killed at least 26 people and injured 17.
Following the attack, India vowed a strong response, with PM Modi saying the guilty would “not be spared”.
Pakistan denied involvement, and the Pakistan Senate condemned India’s attempt to link it to the attack as “baseless” and an “orchestrated… campaign”, while also demanding India be held accountable for alleged terrorism in other countries.

In a highly critical interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire, Satya Pal Malik, who served as the last Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the deadly Pahalgam terror attack. Malik, who also held governorships in Bihar, Meghalaya, Goa, and Odisha, including during the 2019 Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir, did not hold back his criticism of the Prime Minister.

During the 25-minute interview, which took place mostly in Hindi, Malik used strong language to describe PM Modi, calling him “besharam” (shameless) and “darpok” (cowardly). He emphatically stated that Modi “must apologize” to the country for allowing the Pahalgam attack to happen.

Malik voiced several specific criticisms regarding the Prime Minister’s handling of the Pahalgam attack and the broader security situation in Kashmir:

He criticised Modi’s failure to attend the all-party meeting held after the attack, describing it as a sign of “arrogance“.
He questioned Modi’s decision not to praise the Kashmiri people’s “emotional and powerful response” to the attack during his ‘Mann Ki Baat‘ address. Malik suggested this omission occurred because Modi might politically benefit from the continuation of a Hindu-Muslim divide in the country.
Malik also stated that Modi and his colleague Home Minister Amit Shah have created a war hysteria in the country. However, he believes they are “so coward” that they will not take any steps to punish the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack.
He claimed that in the past couple of weeks, Modi and Shah have not even identified the militants who carried out the attack.

According to Malik, the Pahalgam attack, which claimed the lives of 26 people, was a result of serious intelligence failure and security lapses. He commented on recent Kashmir security review meetings led by Home Minister Amit Shah, including one just days before the attack. Malik characterised these meetings not as genuine security reviews but more akin to “social gatherings” where people meet for lunch and what he termed “gup-shup” (idle chat).

Malik also suggested that the then Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, who holds initial responsibility for security, should have accepted moral responsibility and resigned immediately after the attack.

Beyond the immediate aftermath of the Pahalgam incident, Malik raised concerns about the wider situation in Kashmir as reported in the interview:

He spoke about the demolition of houses belonging to individuals suspected of being terrorists, reportedly without any due process whatsoever.
He mentioned the arrests of up to 2,000 people, which he believes were based entirely on suspicion and primarily because the individuals were Kashmiri and Muslim, rather than for other reasons.
Malik also discussed the treatment of Kashmiris outside Kashmir, hateful comments made by the President of the Hindu Sena, and the media’s failure to effectively report the actual response of the Kashmiri people. He believes the media has “let down the country”.

The Pahalgam attack itself occurred in the picturesque Baisaran Valley on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025. Gunmen reportedly emerged from forests and opened fire with automatic weapons on visitors. The attack resulted in at least 26 deaths and 17 injuries.

The victims were reportedly all men from across India except one from Nepal. Pahalgam is a crucial base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage, and the attack comes just months before the yatra is set to begin. Previous attacks have targeted pilgrimage routes.

As usual, India is blaming Pakistan for the attack. However, Pakistan has denied any involvement in the Pahalgam attack. Pakistan’s Defence Minister described the killings as homegrown insurgencies against the Indian government.

The Pakistan Senate on Friday, April 25th, 2025, unanimously passed a resolution strongly condemning India’s attempt to link Pakistan to the attack. The resolution rejected “all frivolous and baseless attempts” to connect Pakistan with the incident. While condemning terrorism in all its forms, the Senate condemned what it called India’s “orchestrated and mala fide campaign to malign Pakistan,” describing it as exploiting the issue of terrorism for a “narrow political goal”.

The resolution also referenced India’s reported “aggressive measures,” such as unilaterally suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, which it called a “blatant violation” and an “act of war,” and reportedly shutting borders and downgrading diplomatic ties while claiming Pakistan supported cross-border terrorism without evidence.

[ Video: Pahalgam Attack के बाद Rahul Gandhi चुप क्यों हैं? ]

The Pakistan Senate warned that the country “remains fully capable and prepared to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity against any aggression” and that “any misadventure by India will be met with a firm, swift and decisive response”. The resolution also demanded that India be held accountable for alleged “involvement in different acts of terrorism and targeted assassinations on the soil of other countries, including Pakistan” and reaffirmed support for the Kashmiri people’s “just struggle for realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination”.

In related context, Satya Pal Malik served as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir during the Pulwama terrorist attack of 2019, which killed 40 CRPF personnel. Following that attack, political figures like Congress leader Rahul Gandhi raised questions in February 2020 about accountability for security lapses and called for the inquiry report to be released.

There have been allegations that the Pulwama attack might have been stage-managed by the Modi government for electoral advantage. Pakistan had previously termed Indian allegations regarding the Pulwama incident as “false and baseless”.

By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.