Former J&K Governor Satyapal Malik dies at 79 after prolonged illness
Malik passed away at around 1:10 pm at Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital following a prolonged illness, officials confirmed.
Malik served as the 10th and final Governor of Jammu and Kashmir from August 2018 to October 2019. It was during his tenure that the Union government revoked Article 370, stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and splitting it into two union territories.
Malik's political career spanned more than five decades across multiple parties and states. He was first elected as a legislator from Baghpat with the Bharatiya Kranti Dal, founded by former Prime Minister Charan Singh.
He later served as a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh between 1980 and 1989, and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Aligarh in 1989 on a Janata Dal ticket.
Malik was appointed as the national vice president of the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2012 and reappointed in 2014.
Malik held several gubernatorial posts in the final phase of his public life. He was appointed Governor of Bihar in 2017, briefly held additional charge of Odisha in 2018, and served as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, and finally Meghalaya, before demitting office in October 2022.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
19 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
India placed 379 passengers on ‘No Fly List' in last five years: Centre
India has placed 379 passengers on the 'No Fly List' in the last five years, the Union ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) said in the Parliament on Tuesday. The T1 terminal of Delhi airport. (Vipin Kumar/ HT Photo) In a written response to a question raised by Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose in the Rajya Sabha, minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol shared an yearly breakup of individuals banned from flying due to unruly behaviour. As per the data shared, ten people were placed in the list in 2020. That number rose to 66 in 2021, but there was a slight dip in 2022 with 63 people being banned from flying. However, 2023 saw 110 people being put on the list, the highest so far. This decreased to 82 in 2024 and till July 30 this year, 48 people have been placed in the list. The government confirmed that it maintains a record of all individuals placed on the list and stated, 'As per the provisions of Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) on 'Handling of unruly/disruptive passengers', unruly passengers are categorised into three levels based on the severity of their misconduct onboard an aircraft.' 'The duration of ban for Level 1 misconduct is up to three months, for Level 2 is up to six months and for Level 3 is a minimum of 2 years or more without limit,' he added. As per rules, aggrieved people, after being informed about being included in the 'No Fly List' and the duration of the ban, have the right to appeal, within 60 days from the date of issue of the order, before an appellate committee constituted by the civil aviation ministry. The appellate committee comprises a retired judge of a high court as the chairman, a representative from a passengers' association, consumer association, or a retired officer of a Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum as a member, a representative of the airline holding a position not below the rank of vice-president or its equivalent as a member. Once the appeal is heard, the appellate committee issues a decision, and their ruling is considered final. If the appellant disagrees with the decision, they have rights to take the matter to the high court.
Indian Express
19 minutes ago
- Indian Express
J&K Governor who oversaw Article 370 abrogation, Satya Pal Malik became vocal BJP critic in his last years
A former BJP leader from western Uttar Pradesh's Jat belt who started his political journey in socialist circles, Satya Pal Malik was the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir when the Centre abrogated Article 370 and scrapped its special Constitutional status on August 5, 2019. Exactly six years since that day, Malik passed away in New Delhi on Tuesday after a prolonged illness. He was 79. In the last few years, Malik had been publicly critical of the Narendra Modi government, making statements ranging from the allegation that the Centre had asked him to keep quiet on the lapses that led to the Pulwama attack in 2019 to corruption in Goa, where he was the Governor after his J&K stint. This May, the CBI filed a chargesheet against Malik in an alleged case of corruption in the Kiru hydel project in Kashmir. Ironically, it was the veteran leader himself who had publicly spoken of the alleged corruption in the project in 2021 while he was serving as Meghalaya Governor. The statement had left the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre red-faced as he alleged the involvement of an RSS leader. His critics had dismissed all these statements, claiming he wanted to resurrect his political career in Uttar Pradesh. 'Saddened by the passing away of Shri Satyapal Malik Ji. My thoughts are with his family and supporters in this hour of grief. Om Shanti,' Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X. Born on July 24, 1946, in Hisawada village in UP's Baghpat district, Malik started as a student union leader in Meerut in 1968-69. 'In the late 1960s, he was president of the student union of Meerut College. This was the time of anti-Congressism and the 'Angrezi Hatao (remove English)' movement in UP. He started as a follower of (Ram Manohar) Lohia ji and joined the socialist youth organisation, Yuvjan Sabha,' JD (U) leader KC Tyagi, who knew Malik for 50 years, told The Indian Express. Tyagi recalled that Malik was always a straight talker and a good orator. Malik won the Baghpat Assembly seat in 1974 as a nominee of Chaudhary Charan Singh's Bharatiya Kranti Dal. He later joined the Bharatiya Lok Dal under Charan Singh and became its general secretary. During the Emergency, Tyagi recalled, Malik and he were in Meerut jail. In 1980, Malik entered the Rajya Sabha on a Lok Dal ticket. By 1984, he had moved to the Congress, which sent him to the Rajya Sabha in 1986. The following year, in the wake of the Bofors scam, he resigned from the Congress. Malik joined V P Singh and two years later won the Lok Sabha election from Aligarh as a Janata Dal candidate. In 1990, he briefly served as the Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Tourism. Malik briefly joined the Samajwadi Party before moving to the BJP in 2004. He unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections, losing to Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh from Baghpat. In its first term, the Modi government appointed Malik head of a parliamentary team that looked into the Land Acquisition Bill. After the panel gave its recommendations against the Bill, the government put it in cold storage. Run as Governor In October 2017, the government appointed Malik as the Bihar Governor, but transferred him to J&K just over a year later. With that, he became the first politician appointed to the post since militancy began in Kashmir. His tenure was a controversial one. First came 'faxgate'. In November 2018, when Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti staked claim to form the government with the support of the National Conference and the Congress and sent a fax to the Raj Bhavan, it went unacknowledged. A representation by People's Conference leader Sajad Lone also went unanswered. Malik dissolved the Assembly that evening, citing the 'impossibility of forming a stable government by the coming together of political parties with competing ideologies', the 'fragile' security situation, and reports of horse-trading. Later, he said history would have remembered him as a 'dishonest man' had he allowed Lone to form the government. 'So, I ended the matter once and for all. Those who abuse me will continue to do so, but I am convinced I did the right thing,' he said. Months after the Assembly's dissolution, J&K's special Constitutional status was revoked and it was made a Union Territory. Just two months after that, Malik was moved out to Goa. This is when his ties with the BJP started souring, and the sense of unhappiness only strengthened when he was shifted to Meghalaya. In March 2020, at a public meeting in Baghpat, Malik said J&K Governors largely just drank and played golf. 'The Governor has no work,' he said. Outspoken by nature, he ruffled feathers in Goa, too, criticising the Pramod Sawant government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. In October 2021, he told the 'India Today' news channel that the government had kept him in the dark about its outbreak. He also alleged large-scale corruption in the Sawant government, saying he had informed PM Modi about it, and was moved because he raised this matter. Malik was in Meghalaya when he levelled the corruption allegations about the hydel project in Kashmir. 'Two files came before me in Jammu and Kashmir. One of them pertained to Ambani and another to a senior RSS functionary. One of the secretaries told me these are fraud files, but he also said you can get Rs 150 crore each in the two deals. I rejected the offer, saying, 'I have come with five kurtas and will go with them,'' he said. The speech created an uproar, and J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha ordered a CBI enquiry into the matter. The CBI subsequently registered two FIRs, conducted multiple searches, and questioned several people, including Malik. Malik was also openly critical of the way the Centre handled the farmers' protests against three farm laws, which were subsequently repealed. He told The Indian Express in February 2021 that farmers should be engaged and not 'sent back insulted'. In January 2022, he targeted the PM in a speech in Dadri in western UP, saying he fought with Modi over the farmers' demands during a meeting. 'He was very arrogant. When I told him that 500 of our own (farmers) had died… he said, 'Did they die for me?'' he was heard saying in a video clip from the function.
India Today
19 minutes ago
- India Today
Telangana MP writes to Union Minister JP Nadda over urea shortage in Kharif season
Congress leader and Bhongir MP Chamal Kiran Kumar Reddy has written to Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers JP Nadda, raising alarm over a significant shortfall in the supply of urea to Telangana during the ongoing Kharif his letter, Reddy pointed out that while the state's total urea allocation for the season stands at 9.80 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), only 4.36 LMT had been supplied as of July 31, falling short by 2.24 LMT against the 6.60 LMT expected for the April–July situation is expected to worsen in August, with the MP noting that although the actual requirement for the month is nearly 3.50 LMT, only 1.70 LMT has been allocated. This mismatch between requirement and supply is causing severe distress among farmers, especially those cultivating key crops like cotton, maize, and paddy. Highlighting the urgency, Reddy recalled that Telangana Chief Minister Anumula Revanth Reddy had already flagged the issue with Minister Nadda, underlining the impact on farmers during the peak agricultural season. The MP said farmers across the state are anxiously awaiting urea to meet their crop also noted that the problem is not limited to Telangana, with farmers in neighbouring states like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka reportedly facing similar issues due to the non-supply of allocated the situation 'critical,' Reddy urged the Union Minister to ensure that the Centre delivers the full allocation to Telangana as per the February 17, 2025, fertilizer allocation letter, to address the real-time demands of the farming community.- EndsMust Watch IN THIS STORY#Telangana
