J&K guv fears transfer after controversial remark

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Wednesday dropped a hint that he may be transferred as his statements continue to create controversies in the state.

The remark has come at a time when the state is going through major political drama in the past week. “As long as I’m here – it’s not in my hands – I don’t know when I will be transferred from here. I will not lose my job but the threat of transfer is there,” he said, while speaking at a meeting organised to mark the death anniversary of legendary Congress leader Girdhari Lal Dogra in Jammu.

On Monday, Malik said that had he listened to the Centre, the then Peoples Conference leader Sajjad Lone would have been chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

“Had I looked towards Delhi (the Centre), then I would have been forced to invite Sajjad Lone to form the government. Then I would have gone down in history as unscrupulous. But I ended the whole thing. Those who want to abuse me can do so, but I am convinced I did the right thing,” he said at a university event in Gwalior.

Editorial: J&K dissolution anti-democratic

However, on Tuesday evening, the Raj Bhavan issued a clarification that Malik, while taking the decision to dissolve the Legislative Assembly, had acted in an 'objective and impartial manner.'

“There was no pressure or any kind of intervention from the Centre in the entire matter and some news channels are misinterpreting the governor’s statement and putting them out of context to convey that there was pressure from the Central Government,” said a Raj Bhavan spokesperson.

The Regional People’s Democratic Party and the National Conference, which had formed an alliance with the Congress and staked claim to form the government in the state, had hailed Malik for “refusing to take dictations” from the Centre.

“My compliments to Governor Malik for not looking to Delhi and for not taking its instructions, thereby stopping the installation of a government of the BJP and its proxies formed by horse trading, defections and use of money,” NC leader and former CM Omar Abdullah, tweeted.

While hailing the governor’s decision “of not taking dictations” from New Delhi, PDP president Mehbooba in a tweet said: “Leaving aside the fax machine fiasco, good to see that governor refused to take dictation from Delhi and opted for dissolution of Assembly. This could be unprecedented, given the story of democracy in the state.”