Satyapal Malik, the former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, passed away on 5 August after a prolonged illness at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in the national capital. Malik was 79.
Malik, hailed by many as the ‘voice’ of farmers, spent the last few years of his life in controversies, including a corruption case handled by the country’s premier investigation agency – the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
Malik—a Jat leader who has been with both the Congress and the BJP—oversaw the abrogation of Article 370, granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 as the governor of the erstwhile state. As fate would have it, Malik died on Tuesday, the sixth anniversary of the move taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s government in its second term.
After his stint in Jammu and Kashmir, Malik served as Governor of Goa and Meghalaya, too.
A student leader from Western UP
Malik was born in 1964 in Hisawada village of Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh. Malik pursued a Bachelor of Science and LLB degrees from Meerut University.
Malik entered active politics in 1965-66 as a student leader and served as President of the Meerut College Students Union and the Students Union at Meerut University, which is now known as Choudhary Charan Singh University.
Lohia-loyalist, ‘voice’ of farmers
Malik was inspired by the socialist ideology of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia. Malik was first elected to any public office as a member of the legislative assembly (MLA) from Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, as a member of Charan Singh’s Bharatiya Kranti Dal.
Later, after the formation of Bharatiya Lok Dal, he joined the party and became the general secretary of Lok Dal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was saddened by Malik’s death. Other leaders also expressed condolences.
“The news of the passing of the vocal voice of the country’s farmers and former Governor Shri Satyapal Singh Malik Ji is extremely saddening. May God grant peace to his soul. My deepest condolences to the grieving family and supporters. Om Shanti!” Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said in a post on X.
Priyanka’s brother and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he will always remember Malik as a person who, “until his last moment, fearlessly spoke the truth and advocated for the interests of the people.”
Janata Dal, Congress and the BJP
In 1980, Malik entered the Rajya Sabha and later briefly joined the Congress in 1984. He resigned in 1987 over the Bofors scandal and co-founded the Jan Morcha with VP Singh.
In 1989, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Aligarh as a Janata Dal candidate and briefly served as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Tourism in the VP Singh government.
Malik joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2004 and served as its National Vice President until he was appointed Governor of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2018.
Flagged graft, he found himself charged
Malik also had his share of controversies. While he courted controversies through his statements as Governor of different states, he was also the Centre of graft investigations by the CBI. Incidentally, Malik had flagged the graft case in the first place.
In May, the CBI filed a chargesheet against seven people, including Malik, in a case of alleged corruption in the award of a contract for a hydel project in Kishtwar district.
The agency had earlier questioned Malik as a witness. In fact, it was on Malik’s allegations that the case was first registered in 2022. In October 2021, two years after leaving office as Jammu and Kashmir Governor, Malik claimed he had been offered ₹300 crore in bribes to clear two files.
“One of the secretaries told me that these are shady deals, but he can get ₹150 crore each. I told him that I had come to J&K with five kurta-pajamas and would leave with that,” Malik said at an event in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan.
The 2018 Fax Row
In November 2018, Malik, the then governor of Jammu and Kashmir, had famously blamed a state holiday for not receiving PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti’s fax staking claim to form the government.
Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti had faxed a letter to Malik’s office declaring a joint bid by her People’s Democratic Party and the National Conference, aided by the Congress, to form the government in the erstwhile state, then under the governor’s rule.
I told him that I had come to J&K with five kurta-pajamas and would leave with that.
Hours later, however, Malik, without acknowledging receipt of the fax, ordered dissolution of the Assembly, where the three parties hold 56 of the 87 seats.
Malik claimed he had missed Mehbooba’s faxed letter because nobody was in his office to receive it, as it was a holiday in the state on the occasion of Eid-e-Milad, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
