The Congress on Saturday said the sensational claims in Satya Pal Malik’s interview — about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attitude on matters ranging from national security to corruption — showed how “morally corrupt” the ruling dispensation was and demanded answers from Modi.

Malik had said in an interview with journalist Karan Thapar that when he had, as the then Jammu and Kashmir governor, blamed the 2019 Pulwama massacre on the Centre’s own lapses, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told him “tum abhi chup raho” and “yeh koi aur cheez hai”. He had added that the Prime Minister “does not hate corruption very much” and is “ill-informed”.

‘“Tum chup raho… yeh koi aur cheez hai (You keep quiet, this is something else)’ — why did the Prime Minister say so? What was this ‘something else’? Malik hasn’t yet revealed everything. He restrains himself at critical points. What he hasn’t said may be more disturbing,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said.

At the same news conference, party communications chief Jairam Ramesh said: “We need answers. Modi remained silent on China. He remained silent on Adani.”

Later in the day, Ramesh alleged that all the TV channels had blacked out the Congress news conference under government pressure.

More than 24 hours have passed since Malik’s interview was uploaded on The Wire news portal on Friday evening. Neither the PMO nor any other government wing had responded to the claim till Saturday night. Requests from this newspaper for comment are also pending with the government since Friday evening.

Malik had in the interview said that even national security adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval had asked him not to say anything on the Pulwama massacre.

“What’s the role of the NSA? You can understand the fate of the country where the Prime Minister asks the governor not to speak anything about the lapses and irresponsible conduct of the authorities,” Khera said.

“What’s the purpose of the Prime Minister asking the governor to keep quiet after such a big terror attack? People distributing certificates of treason need to answer whether this is treason or not.”

In the interview, Malik had said the CRPF had “asked for an aircraft to ferry their people because such a large convoy never goes by road” but the Union home ministry had refused. Later, a car bomb struck the CRPF convoy on a highway and killed 40 personnel — an incident the BJP turned into an election issue.

Supriya Shrinate, who addressed the news conference with Ramesh and Khera, said: “There have been suspicions about Pulwama from the very beginning. How did 300kg of RDX reach the spot, why were the jawans not airlifted, why were the connecting arterial roads not sanitised?”

She added: “It is clear the jawans were killed because of the government’s failures. Malik’s revelations have shocked the entire nation.”

Shrinate claimed that Malik was very close to Modi, highlighting how he had been appointed governor in several states.

“Recall that fateful day when 40 jawans were killed in February 2019. Modi continued shooting a documentary at the Corbett National Park. Amit Shah continued with his political rally. Priyanka Gandhi cancelled her scheduled press conference in Lucknow and Rahul Gandhi cancelled his engagements,” she said.

Shrinate asked: “The question is, why were intelligence inputs and terror threats ignored? What’s been the progress in the Pulwama investigation over the last four years?”

Ramesh accused the government of conspiring to keep Malik’s comments out of the media. He said Malik’s allegations had thrown up questions too serious for the country to brush aside, and that they would be made a part of the national discourse.

“Vishwaguru has showna unique model of democracy to the world. Build anew building for Parliament and kill the soul of democracy. Now, will he answerthe damning revelations by Malik, who is a senior BJP leader? We know the government will bring up something to divert attention,” Ramesh said.

Malik, who has in recent years made comments critical of the Prime Minister and his government, said in the interview he has a single police guard despite a recommendation for Z+ security owing to an alleged threat from Pakistan.

Asked about the lack of security, he told Thapar: “Sarkar chahti hai saale ko koi maar de.”

Khera said that some TV anchors who spread hatred and “film director and actors who are your sycophants have been given X-Y-Z-category security”.

Shrinate said the BJP IT cell was trying to discredit Malik. She stressed that the Prime Minister’s Office had not responded in the past when Malik spoke about Modi’s reaction to the death of farmers during the movement against three now-revoked farm laws.

Malik had said in January 2022: “When I told Modi 700 farmers had died, he dismissed it, saying, ‘Did they die for me?”’

The Congress linked Malik’s remark to Thapar that the Prime Minister “does not hate corruption very much” to the government’s refusal to accept a joint parliamentary committee probe into the Adani controversy.