Nation will never know about our lapses in Pulwama officially, PM will never speak: Satyapal Malik
Ravish Kumar interviews Satyapal Malik after latters startling revelations on 'The Wire'
New Delhi: Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik has made further revelations about the Pulwama attack in an interview with senior journalist and former NDTV executive editor Ravish Kumar. In an earlier interview with Karan Thapar for ‘The Wire’, Malik had said that the attack happened due to lapses on India's part. In the interview with Kumar, Malik reiterated this and said that he had informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about these lapses, but was asked to remain silent.
Malik said that the media had failed to cover his interview with Karan Thapar appropriately and that only a few media houses had covered it.
Ravish Kumar said that he was interviewing Malik to make it a point that he did give coverage to the issue and was not ignorant about it.
Malik explained that the CRPF had sought five aircraft for the movement of soldiers before the Pulwama attack, but they were not provided by the Home Ministry. He also said that there were other lapses, such as the fact that the convoy of soldiers was traveling by road and not by air as per protocol. There were no patrolling vehicles or checkposts to check the vehicles on the road.
"There should be a probe into why the convoy of 900 soldiers was traveling through the road and not through air according to the protocol. Why the protocol was not followed which requires a Gypsy to stop traffic before the convoy and let the convoy first before letting the traffic move again?" Malik said.
Malik added that he had received a call from NSA Ajit Doval, who had asked him not to speak about the lapses from the government. Malik said that he had also received a call from Prime Minister Modi, who had asked him to remain silent.
"PM Modi called me an hour after the attack and when I told him about our lapses he asked me to remain silent. But by that time I had given the statement to a couple of media organizations," Malik said.
When asked if the shuffle in J&K Police a day before the attack was linked to the attacks, Malik said that it was not true and that he would’ve been aware of any such development if there were any.
Ravish Kumar also asked Malik if the reports of intelligence failure published in the media were true. Satyapal in his reply did not completely rule it out and also added that he also considers himself to be blamed for the attacks as he was the governor of the state.
“It can be intelligence failure. The vehicle with explosives was roaming in the state for 10 days and nobody intercepted it. As the media reports claim there were intelligence warnings for one month of a possible attack, why the link roads were not manned? He asked, “I had no information about the movement of the CRPF until the attack took place. I came to know about it after the attacks.”
Malik also blamed Pakistan for the attacks and added that the explosives in such a huge quantity could only be arranged from Pakistan and it couldn't have been procured locally. He said that he would have been labeled as anti-national if he had taken an anti-Central government stand, so when he was asked to remain silent, he did.
"My grievance is that we could have admitted to our lapses, but officially the nation will not get to know the truth because the PM will never speak," Malik concluded.
The Pulwama attack took place on February 14, 2019, when a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel was attacked by a suicide bomber in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. The attack resulted in the deaths of 40 CRPF personnel.
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Minister Hebbalkar accuses C.T. Ravi of tarnishing her reputation
Belagavi: Minister for Women and Child Development, Lakshmi Hebbalkar, has accused Legislative Council member C.T. Ravi of tarnishing her reputation by repeatedly using defamatory language against her. Addressing a press conference, a visibly emotional Hebbalkar said Ravi uttered the objectionable word not once but ten times, causing her deep distress.
Recalling the events in the Legislative Council on Thursday, Hebbalkar stated that Congress members had earlier staged a protest condemning derogatory remarks made against Dr B.R. Ambedkar. Following this, the session was adjourned for 10 minutes. During the break, C.T. Ravi allegedly referred to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a "drug addict."
"I remained calm initially, even though he repeated the term three to four times. However, when I finally responded by asking if a person involved in an accident could be called a murderer, Ravi retaliated by using defamatory language against me multiple times," Hebbalkar explained. She added that she had lodged a formal complaint with the Speaker.
Breaking into tears, the minister said, "I am not someone who fears such tactics. But as a mother, sister, and daughter-in-law, such statements deeply hurt me." She lamented the lack of public condemnation from BJP leaders, although some privately apologised to her.
Hebbalkar expressed gratitude to her party members and Congress workers for standing by her during this ordeal, adding, "I have struggled to rise in politics and always distanced myself from wrongdoing. It is disheartening that no BJP leader has openly criticised Ravi's remarks."
