Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik has passed away at the age of 79 at Delhi’s RML Hospital after battling a prolonged illness. His last post has resurfaced on social media, where he accused the government of vendetta. He said that he was offered bribes of Rs 150-150 crores but stood firm in the face of government pressure.
In what would become his final social media post, dated June 7, Malik had shared a health update, revealing that he was suffering from kidney-related illness and had been hospitalised for over a month. Despite being in critical condition and shifted to the ICU, he wrote a post in a bid to “tell the truth” to Indians after the CBI filed a chargesheet against him in a corruption case.
‘Whether I survive or not, I want to tell truth’
“Whether I survive or not, I want to tell the truth to my fellow countrymen,” Malik had written in a long post on X (formerly Twitter).
He had added, “When I was Governor, I was offered bribes of 150-150 crore rupees, but like my political mentor, the farmer’s messiah, the late Chaudhary Charan Singh ji, I worked with honesty, and my integrity could never be shaken.”
Malik then shared instances where he had stood up for the right cause, including the farmers’ movement and the women wrestlers’ movement. “I raised the issue of the martyred brave soldiers in the Pulwama attack, for which this government has not conducted any investigation to date.”
‘Government trying to frame me’
The post, which came after the CBI filed a chargesheet against him in the corruption case, naturally mentioned it. He had claimed that the government was “trying to frame him” and that he had cancelled the order after informing the PM. However, the tender was passed with someone else’s signature, as the post mentioned.
“The government is trying to frame me in false chargesheets by showing the fear of the CBI,” he had claimed, before adding, “The tender they want to implicate me in was one I personally cancelled. I had informed the Prime Minister myself that there was corruption in this matter, and after informing him, I cancelled that tender myself. After my transfer, this tender was executed with someone else’s signature.”
The CBI filed a chargesheet against Malik and seven others in connection with alleged corruption in the award of Rs 2,200-crore civil works for the Kiru hydropower project.
‘Neither one to fear nor bow down’
In his post, further, he had claimed that he came from a farmer’s community and was not someone who could be easily intimidated or bent.
“I want to tell the government and its agencies that I come from the farmer community; I am neither one to fear nor one to bow down,” he had added.
He had further said, “The government has put all its strength into defaming me. In the end, my request to the government and its agencies is to please tell the truth to beloved people of my country. What did you find against me in your investigations?”
Malik ended his post by revealing that he was in debt even after 50 years of a political career, including several high-profile roles. “I live in a single-room house and am in debt. If I had wealth today, I would be getting treatment in a private hospital,” he had claimed.