"You Cannot Defeat The Farmers Of This Country" Says Satya Pal Malik

Governor of Meghalaya Satya Pal Malik has been giving the government grief. Or it would appear so given his several speeches in support of the farmers right from the time of the protest, through the protest and again now. He speaks as straight as he used to when he founded the Jan Morcha with V.P.Singh, now Governor of Kerala Arif Mohammad Khan and the late Arun Nehru. He does not mince words, and says more perhaps than he needs to. And yet he remains the Governor, with the full pomp associated with the office.

Take the latest speech just a day ago. The honorable Governor was speaking at a program at a cow shelter in village Kira, Nuh district in Haryana. Warming up to the theme that he has been articulating for a while now, Mr Malik "If the Minimum Support Price is not implemented and the legal guarantee on MSP is not given, there will be another fight and this time it will be a fierce fight."

"You cannot defeat the farmers of this country. You cannot scare him– since you cannot send the Enforcement Directorate or Income-Tax officers, how will you scare the farmer, " the Governor added.

And then came what can be taken by the centre in these times as extreme provocation. Mr Malik has of course pointed fingers directly in speeches before. But this time he surprised even those around him with, " The MSP is not being implemented because the Prime Minister has a friend whose name is Adani, and who at this moment has become Asia's richest person in five years."

The Governor then went on to speak of a woman who greeted him at the airport with flowers. And when he asked where she had come from she said she represented Adani. He said he asked her what this meant and she told him that "this airport has been handed over to Adani." Mr Malik then went on to say, "Adani has been given airports, ports, major schemes – aur ek tarah se desh ko bechne ki tayari hai (in a way this is preparation to sell the country) but we will not let it happen," Mr Malik said.

In what amounted to a direct attack on the industrialist and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said earlier in Panipat that Adani had built a big warehouse where he had stocked wheat at low prices. And when there is inflation, Mr Malik said, he will sell it at a higher price and make a good profit. |"So these PM's friends will make profits and farmers will suffer. This will not be tolerated and there will be a fight against it," he added.

He recalled an incident that he had spoken of earlier, saying he had tried to meet the PM when the farmers were sitting in protest at the borders. He said he had told the PM that each farmer represented 40 villages, and that 700 had died and added," when a dog dies a condolence message is sent from Delhi. No condolence message was sent for farmers."

The Governor announced that when his tenure is over he will join the farmers in their struggle for justice and rights. Mr Malik, 76 years, came back into the spotlight after he was sent as Governor to Bihar by the current government. He then went on to take over as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, was shifted to Goa as the Governor and is now the Governor of Meghalaya from 2020. He is from Baghpat, told this reporter earlier that he studied in Meerut College with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, and has always been involved with the Jat farmers of western Uttar Pradesh in particular.

Farmer leaders, however, are as confused as perhaps the BJP about Mr Malik's remarks although he has often spoken of his adherence and commitment to the farmers' cause. He created a controversy last year when he said at the Global Jat summit , "you will not be able to overcome the Sikhs… You cannot defeat the Jats either." This was when the government and the farmers were at loggerheads, in a face off that was bitter and prolonged.

Mr Malik is a disciple of Ram Manohar Lohia, and seen during his political days as a die hard socialist. He was an accessible politician, visible at many public functions, close to his friends then and even now, and never really hedging words. He shunned the limelight like Arun Nehru preferring it to remain a back room boy. And followed his own course in politics, being a bit of a loner in that he did not follow the herd.

The Governor has been in socialist fashion targeting the top industrialists. Not so long ago he hit out by claiming that he was offered a Rs 300 crore bribe to clear files belonging to "Ambani" and a person linked to the RSS to clear files as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.