Rahul Gandhi, the President of Indian National Congress was delivering a speech in Koraput, Odisha today. As is the norm, no speech of Rahul Gandhi can ever be delivered without a dash of gaffes and a bucketload of self-goals. During the speech today, Rahul Gandhi said that a few days ago, the Indian Airforce “attacked” Pakistan and dropped bombs. In the process, some of our men also martyred. Then, out of nowhere, he talks about HAL manufacturing fighter jets and how PM Modi took money from the Airforce and gave it to Ambani.
#WATCH Rahul Gandhi: Kuch din pehle vayu sena ne Pakistan pe aakraman kiya, bomb giraye, hamare log bhi shaheed hue, 70 saal se HAL vayu sena ke liye hawai jahaz bana rahe hain…PM desh bhakti ki baat karte hain lekin vayu sena se paisa lekar apne mitr Anil Ambani ko dete hain. pic.twitter.com/KrmolH7wHQ
— ANI (@ANI) March 8, 2019
There are several problems with Rahul Gandhi’s statements.
Did India “attack” Pakistan, as claimed by Rahul Gandhi?
In his speech, Rahul Gandhi has claimed that a few days ago, India “attacked” Pakistan and dropped bombs in their territory. When Rahul Gandhi says India “attacked” Pakistan, it would essentially mean an act of aggression against a sovereign state. India, as is evidenced by History, has never “attacked” another Nation. So too, in the case of Balakot strikes, there was no “attack” as claimed by Rahul Gandhi. India merely excercised its right to self defence and bombed terrorist camps that were breeding grounds for the very suicide bombers that carried out the Pulwama attack and several similar terrorist attacks. Even in its official stand, India termed the strikes as ‘non-military pre-emptive strikes’, meaning, this was not a military action against the sovereignty of a state, but an act of self-defence against terrorists.
In fact, it was Pakistan that carried out the “attack” against India when it attacked India’s military installations in response to India taking action against terror camps. Thus, for Rahul Gandhi to say that India “attacked” Pakistan, it reaks of malicious propaganda against India and the Prime Minister.
Were “our men” martyred in the Balakot airstrikes?
Well, depends on which side of the fence one is on. If one is a Pakistani, or the ‘poster boy of Pakistan’, one might certainly say that “our men” were martyred, assuming they consider Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists ‘their own people’. However, if one is from the Indian side of the fence, one would know that none of men were lost in the Balakot airstrikes. It was a clean operation were 12 Mirage 2000s crossed over, flattened terrorist camps and came back unscathed.
One could, of course, assume that he is talking about the Helicopter crash where 6 people lost their lives. However, India has maintained that the Helicopter crash was due to a technical glitch and not due to any hostilities with Pakistan. In such a scenario, it seems unlikely that Rahul Gandhi would be speaking about the Helicopter crash as right before he statement, he mentions India’s “attack” on Pakistan.
Were the jets used in the Balakot airstrikes made by HAL?
It was almost as if Rahul Gandhi was in a hurry to get the bit about HAL and Anil Ambani and hence, fumbled his way there. Surprisingly, even when he got to the bit he loves to talk about, he sounded either confused or wilfully silly. Rahul Gandhi, after talking about the Balakot airstrikes said that HAL has been manufacturing fighter jets for over 70 years and that PM Modi took money away from the Airforce and gave it to Anil Ambani.
Now, considering he spoke of HAL manufacturing jets right after he spoke of the Balakot airstrikes, one can assume that he meant the fighter jets used in the Balakot airstrikes were manufactured by HAL. This, however, is another lie. The fighter jets used by the Indian Airforce in the Balakot airstrikes were mostly Mirage 2000s which have been manufactured, incidentally, by Dassault.
Also, PM Modi has not taken away anything and given to anyone. Anil Ambani is not manufacturing Rafale, Dassault is. Anil Ambani has got only a part of the off-set contract which amounts to roughly Rs. 800 crores and not the outlandish figures that Rahul Gandhi keeps claiming.
Interestingly, the line Rahul Gandhi has taken in this speech is exactly one taken by Pakistan. Rahul Gandhi and his band of buffoons, who have proven themselves to be the poster boys of Pakistan, have repeatedly toed the Pakistan line, and in this speech too, Rahul Gandhi has proven yet again why the country is beginning to think of him as Imran Khan’s lost brother.
