On February 14, 2019, a convoy of vehicles carrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel to Srinagar via National Highway 44 came under a suicide bombing attack in Pulwama. 22-year-old Adil Ahmad Dar, a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist from Kakapora in Jammu and Kashmir, rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a bus carrying the CRPF personnel. 40 of our jawans were martyred in that cowardly terror attack.
The terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), based in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack. They also posted a video of the Islamic terrorist Adil Ahmad Dar, who had joined the outfit a year before. In an official statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that Pakistan was responsible for assisting terrorist attacks and that JeM founder Maulana Masood Azhar had been “given the freedom to target India.”
In an hour when the whole nation stood together to back the armed forces, it was the Indian opposition that tried to give a clean chit to Pakistan and the terrorists involved. The opposition leaders tried to pin the blame on Narendra Modi instead and tried to spin conspiracy theories around the attack. The anti-Modi sentiment and the fear of getting wiped out from the political spectrum ahead of the 2019 general elections were so deep-rooted in the opposition leaders that they went on to accuse Modi of executing this brutal attack for BJP’s political gains. Many of them also questioned the role of the armed forces during this attack. Others questioned the air strike by the Indian Air Force in Balakot after this attack.
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu rushed to give a clean chit to Pakistan
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, who often expresses his love towards the terrorist state of Pakistan issued a shocking clean chit to Pakistan by claiming that ‘Terrorism has no country’ and indicated that Pakistan has no role in the Pulwama terrorist attack.
While condemning the heinous terrorist attack on the CRPF soldiers, Navjot Singh Sidhu said that terrorism has no country, giving a clean chit to Pakistan despite Jaish-e-Mohammed, a terrorist group based in Pakistan and backed by the Pakistani establishment, taking the responsibility for the attack on CRPF soldiers at Pulwama.
I got this msg 2days back from a person in jammu
— Devashish Jarariya (@jarariya91) February 15, 2019
Msg was sent at 2.43am saying urgent something bad is going to happen.
He even asked me to convey this msg to higher authorities.
But before i could understand this incident occurred.
Now i am confused b/w coincidence or conspiracy pic.twitter.com/0XLBfzz5Ku
Several other leaders leveled serious allegations about the Pulwama attack
Former Congress MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur, Noor Bano, during an interaction with the media leveled charges against security forces and accused them of exercising negligence prior to Pulwama terrorist attack.
“What happened was unfortunate, and the incident affects all of us. We do not know how BJP will churn out benefits from this incident. They will exploit the incident. It is the responsibility of the armed forces, to protect people. I saw on television, that they had prior information, but then how they failed to avert the attack?” Congress leader Noor Bano was quoted by reports.
Gujarat Congress leader from Junagadh, Vinu Amipara also parroted similar lines. He said, “Whenever there are elections, they(BJP) do something like this. Earlier, Godhra carnage was carried out (before the 2002 Gujarat elections) and today, the Pulwama attack is also suspicious. The soldiers are murdered. When Congress comes to power, then we will investigate this.”
Congress’ motormouth Digvijaya Singh was at it again
Indian Air Force carried out an air strike at Balakot in Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack. Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh doubted the surgical strikes instantly while trying to downplay the Pulwama terror attack. He started with a disclaimer that we are proud of our armed forces and have complete faith in them.
हमें हमारी सेना पर उनकी बहादुरी पर गर्व है व सम्पूर्ण विश्वास है। सेना में मैंने मेरे अनेकों परिचित व निकट के रिश्तेदारों को देखा है किस प्रकार वे अपने परिवारों को छोड़ कर हमारी सुरक्षा करते हैं। हम उनका सम्मान करते हैं।
— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) March 5, 2019
He lauded the armed forces for the service they provide in protecting the nation. However, he added, following the ‘Pulwama accident’, reports in various foreign media regarding the “air strike” have created doubt in his mind. This apparently made him question the credibility of the Indian government as well.
किन्तु पुलवामा दुर्घटना के बाद हमारी वायु सेना द्वारा की गयी “Air Strike” के बाद कुछ विदेशी मीडिया में संदेह पैदा किया जा रहा है जिससे हमारी भारत सरकार की विश्वसनीयता पर भी प्रश्न चिन्ह लग रहा है।
— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) March 5, 2019
Downplaying terror attacks or absolving the actual terrorists and pinning the blame on someone he doesn’t agree with politically is not something new for Singh. In 2010, months after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Digvijaya Singh, along with filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and others launched a book that claimed that the Mumbai terror attacks were an RSS conspiracy.
Congress leader Randeep Surjewala
Just a week after the dastardly attack by the terrorist belonging to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad claimed the lives of 40 CRPF soldiers, the Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala rubbed salt on their wounds by alleging that the terrorist was a ‘Home-grown so-called terrorist’. While addressing a presser, the Congress spokesperson insulted the sacrifice of the martyred soldiers by referring to the terrorist who killed them as a ‘so-called terrorist’. Surjewala also called into question the functioning of the Armed forces when he called the terrorist as ‘Home-grown’, providing an alibi to Pakistan.
Congress Supports Pakistan by referring #PulwamaTerrorAttack as attack by “Homegrown so-called terrorist” pic.twitter.com/t5koeSeLRD
— Hardik (@Humor_Silly) February 21, 2019
Veteran lawyer and politician Kapil Sibal joined in to cast aspersions on the surgical strikes
Congress leader Kapil Sibal joined the bandwagon after the air strikes. He tweeted, “Modiji: Is international media: 1) New York Times 2) London based Jane’s Information Group 3) Washinton Post 4) Daily Telegraph 5) The Guardian 6) Reuters reporting no proof of militant losses at Balakot pro-Pakistan? You are guilty of politicizing terror?”
Modiji :
— Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) March 4, 2019
Is international media :
1) New York Times
2) London based Jane’s Information Group
3) Washinton Post
4) Daily Telegraph
5) The Guardian
6) Reuters
reporting no proof of militant losses at Balakot pro-Pakistan ?
You are guilty of politicising terror ?
Goa Congress leader Chellakumar alleged Pulwama was orchestrated by PM Modi
While addressing a press conference, Goa Congress leader Chellakumar alleged that the Pulwama attack was orchestrated by PM Modi. Chellakumar said, “People are not fools anymore. This man will go to any extent. Because, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and Amit Shah together… even recently video clipping has come out, even the Godhra incident was planned by BJP and stuff like that. Their own man has said that, not some Congress leader. I will not take the name but someone from the BJP circle has claimed that the Godhra incident was manipulated and orchestrated by the BJP. If it is so, why not this Pulwama incident also? They have identified all the jawan’s bodies. Where is the terrorist’s body? Till now they could not show to the people. So he is not a public representative. Not a public leader.”
Mehbooba Mufti blamed the government for the attack
The former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, also attempted to justify the horrible atrocity committed by terrorist Ahmad Dar and pinned the blame on the government for its ‘muscular approach’ forcing gullible youths in the Valley to take up arms.
As a mother, its hard to fathom how a father can rationalize his sons decision to become a fidayeen. But young men in Kashmir are agitated & angry. GoIs muscular approach to Kashmir is imprudent & injudicious. Beyond a point we need to look inwards & introspect what went wrong. https://t.co/R7fi0AJdxH
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) March 8, 2019
Arvind Kejriwal subtly tried to create doubt about the air strikes
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also questioned Balakot air strikes. He tweeted, “Is the army lying according to Amit Shah? The army has clearly said that whether someone died or not or how many died, cannot be said. Are Amit Shah and BJP telling lies to the army for their electoral gains? The country has faith in the army. Do Amit Shah and the BJP have no faith in the army?”
क्या अमित शाह के मुताबिक़ सेना झूठ बोल रही है?
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 4, 2019
सेना ने साफ़ साफ़ कहा है कि कोई मरा या नहीं मरा या कितने मरे, ये नहीं कहा जा सकता।
अपने चुनावी फ़ायदे के लिए क्या अमित शाह और भाजपा सेना को झूठा बोल रहे हैं?
देश को सेना पर भरोसा है। क्या अमित शाह और भाजपा को सेना पर भरोसा नहीं? https://t.co/IkBh92hT5e
Sam Pitroda
Sam Pitroda, one of the accused in the National Herald ‘cheating and breach of trust’ scam and one of the most trusted aides of Congress President Rahul Gandhi, demanded proof of the Balakot airstrikes carried out by the Indian Air Force on Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camps in Pakistan.
He questioned, did we really kill 300 people? “I don’t know that. As a citizen, I am entitled to know. And if I ask, it is my duty to ask. That does not mean I am not a nationalist. That does not mean I am on this side or that side. We need to know the facts. If you say 300 people were killed, I need to know that. We all need to know that. The people of India need to know that. And then the global media says that nobody was killed. I look bad as an Indian citizen,” he said.
As the nation remembers the martyrs of the Pulwama terror attack, people should not forget that these leaders from the opposition parties accused Narendra Modi of this attack, questioned the role of the Indian army, peddled a narrative that the Indian army was responsible for the suicide bomber of Pulwama joining a terrorist outfit, and finally questioned the valor of the Indian Air Force after the Balakot air strike.
