Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s comments on Operation Sindoor are creating controversies in India, but they are grabbing eyeballs and headlines in Pakistani media.
On Monday, Rahul Gandhi stepped up his attack on External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar by tweeting: “EAM Jaishankar’s silence on ‘informing’ Pakistan isn’t just telling – it is damning. So I’ll ask again: How many Indian aircraft did we lose because Pakistan knew? This wasn’t a lapse. It was a crime. And the nation deserves to know”.
A day earlier, Rahul Gandhi had tweeted : “Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that the GOI did it. Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our air force lose as a result?”
The External Affairs Ministry, in a statement, said: “The EAM had stated that we had warned Pakistan at the start, which is the early phase after Op Sindoor’s commencement. This is being falsely represented as being before the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out.”
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri also told Parliament Standing Committee how the minister’s remarks were wrongly interpreted. It was made clear that Pakistan was informed after the air strikes on terror hideouts were carried out.
The Director General of Army Air Defence Lt. Gen. Sumer Ivan D’Cunha has raised a valid point. He said, had Pakistan prior knowledge of attacks, would more than a hundred terrorists remained hiding in Lashkar and Jaish hideouts? All these terrorists were killed in air strikes.
I am surprised Rahul Gandhi is unaware of the basic norm that when non-military targets are attacked, the enemy is informed after the attack to convey the fact that no civilian or military installation was targeted.
When US Navy SEAL commandos killed Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden near Abbottabad cantonment, the US had duly informed Pakistan after the operation was over. After 2019 Balakot air strike, our DGMO had informed Pakistan about the attack.
I do not understand in which world is Rahul Gandhi living. Secondly, can anybody dream that the Foreign Minsiter of India would inform Pakistan in advance about the targets that our air force is going to attack? To wake them up and get ready?
Such scenes are scripted in films, where the hero informs the villain in advance to be prepared and face bullets on his chest. Somebody should ask Rahul Gandhi, if Pakistan knew about Indian air strikes, why did it leave more than a hundred terrorists to be slain in their hideouts in Bahawalpur, Muridke and other places? Were the terrorists lying there to be blown to bits? Why didn’t they flee?
I think Rahul Gandhi’s childish comments need not be taken seriously. He had done similar blunders after 2019 Balakot air strike and 2016 surgical strike. Rahul Gandhi’s party had to face losses in elections because of his comments.
People at large are watching. They are also watching how Narendra Modi’s government is sending all-party delegations to different world capitals, while Congress is also objecting to the choice of candidates in general, and Shashi Tharoor, in particular.
How did Pakistan create a web of spies ?
Eleven informers have so far been arrested from Haryana, Punjab and UP for providing info about army movement and military installations to Pakistan. The Pakistani High Commission had become a den of spies. Free visa, money and other inducements were being given to Indian nationals to spy on our army.
Mohammed Tareef, arrested from Nuh, Haryana, disclosed how a High Commission staff Asif in 2018 asked him to bring two SIM cards for getting a visa. Later, he was also offered money for procuring SIM cards. One Pakistani officer Jaffer offered him lakhs of rupees for sensitive info and pictures about Indian Air Force installations.
Informers arrested include a female vlogger Jyoti Malhotra from Hisar, Arman and Tareef from Nuh, Noman Ilahi from Panipat and Devinder Singh from Kaithal. UP ATS nabbed Shehzad from Rampur, while Punjab police arrested Ghazala and Yameen Mohammed from Malerkotla, and Sukhbir and Karanbir Singh from Gurdaspur.
There are now demands for packing off the Pakistan High Commission from India. The activity of Pakistani diplomats have been suspicious since long. Their movement must be put under surveillance as they have become a security threat. I hope, authorities will soon come out with details of espionage by Pakistani diplomats and their informers.
Exposed : Pakistan’s diabolical plot to attack Golden Temple
Pakistani army had hatched a diabolical plot to attack the Golden Temple in Amritsar during the recent conflict and put the blame on India. Pakistan fired drones and missiles targeting Golden Temple in retaliation to Operation Sindoor, but our air defence systems foiled this conspiracy.
Maj. Gen. Kartik C. Seshadri, GOC, 15 Infantry Division, said, on May 8, Pakistan army carried out a massive air assault with unmanned aerial weapons like drones and long-range missiles, but our alert Army air defence gunners shot down all drones and missiles targeted at the Golden Temple.
You may remember, during the conflict, Pakistan had alleged that India had fired missiles at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, but it proved to be a lie. Pakistan wanted to incite Sikh community, but its conspiracy was foiled through timely action.
The head granthi of Golden Temple allowed anti-aircraft guns to be deployed inside the premises and all temple lights were switched off to evade aerial attacks.
When these attacks failed, Pakistan army spokesman Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told a brazen lie at a 2.30 am press briefing that it was the Indian army that fired missiles at the Golden Temple. Lt Gen Chaudhry claimed, India fired six missiles, out which five fell inside Amritsar.
This is a clear proof of Pakistan’s deceit and deception. The main objective was to sow seeds of disharmony among Sikhs by blaming Indian army.
Pakistani army chief Gen Asim Muneer has been trying hard to create communal divide between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, because he believes in ‘two nation theory’. Hindu tourists were singled out for massacre in Pahalgam. This was the first step.
As a second step, pro-Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu was asked to circulate four videos on social media. In one video, Pannu promised to give Rs 35 lakh each to the kin of Lashkar, Jaish terrorists killed in Indian air strikes. In another video, Pannu says, Sikhs would side with Pakistani army to fight India and create separate Khalistan. Pannu’s tricks failed to cut any ice among the Sikhs, both in India and abroad.
I would like to remind what Retd Air Commodore Ashminder Singh Bahal said recently. He said, on April 16, Gen Asim Muneer said “Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations, both distinct from each other”. On April 22, 26 Hindu tourists were singled out in Pahalgam and killed by terrorists because of their religion. This was followed by Pakistan firing missiles and drones at Golden Temple.
Bahal said, “Pakistan has probably forgotten that it was Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army which repelled ‘lashkar’ invaders and pushed them up to the Khyber pass.” What Army Maj. Gen. Seshadri has disclosed exposes Pakistan’s conspiracy to create communal divide in India.
Such incidents clearly show that the generals calling the shots at Pakistan Army GHQ are muddle-headed. They have no idea of the innate strength and unity of India and its people. They plan conspiracies which are bound to be nipped in the bud.
You might have noticed, at a time when our armed forces were wreaking havoc on Pakistani air bases and destroying terror hideouts, Pakistani army and ISI were busy circulating baseless rumours on social media using its agents that include Gurpatwant Singh Pannu. Pakistan expected Hindu-Muslim and Hindu-Sikh divide to happen in India, but Gen. Muneer’s army was proved wrong.