On 14 February, Rahul Gandhi, former Congress chief, took to Twitter to politicise the ghastly terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 44 CRPF officers in Pulwama. He tried his level best to cast aspersions around the attack and suggested that it was an ‘inside job’ of the BJP for electoral gain ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Today as we remember our 40 CRPF martyrs in the #PulwamaAttack , let us ask:
1. Who benefitted the most from the attack?
2. What is the outcome of the inquiry into the attack?
3. Who in the BJP Govt has yet been held accountable for the security lapses that allowed the attack? pic.twitter.com/KZLbdOkLK5
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 14, 2020
He asked three questions, “Who benefitted the most from the attack? What is the outcome of the inquiry into the attack? Who in the BJP Government has yet been held accountable for the security lapses that allowed the attack?”
While the terrorist attack was carried out by Pakistan sponsored terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad, by asking this question, Rahul Gandhi had insinuated that there is more to the Pulwama attack than just Pakistan bleeding India with the attack as it has for decades.
Like on previous occasions, Rahul Gandhi’s stand parroting Pakistan’s line of argument has been hailed and used by Pakistan to attack the Indian government. A leading Pakistani daily, The Express Tribune, used the same arguments made by Gandhi to suggest that the Pulwama attack was a false flag operation.
In an article titled “Pulwama: Rahul Gandhi’s legitimate questions” Pakistani news outlet Express Tribune claimed that the Indian media was using ‘the familiar template’ of blaming Pakistan for anything that went wrong in Kashmir. It eulogised the speech of Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan who offered “possible assistance” but actually took no action against those involved, despite India sending a dossier to the neighbouring country. The Pakistani newspaper also dismissed India’s military operation in Balakot, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa across the Line of Control (LoC).
The Tribune also demanded an “honest” answer to Rahul Gandhi’s questions from the current political dispensation, even though Jaish-e-Mohammed took responsibility for the attack, and they have been providing shelter to the terror organisation and its leaders for decades, allowing their territory to be used as training grounds for terrorists and suicide bombers.
These baseless conspiracy theories peddled by the Congress party have often used by Pakistani administration and its mouthpieces in the media to trivialise India’s claims. The grand old party is not new to whitewashing terror attacks orchestrated by Pakistan. In 2008, following the 26/11 attack that claimed 164 lives, Congress leader Digvijay Singh said that it was the handwork of the Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Read: Rahul Gandhi seems to be more popular in Pakistan than India, and it is doing Congress no favours
Rahul Gandhi’s tweets have often been used by Pakistani journalists and senators to dismiss India’s claims.
Rahul Gandhi’s and Congress’ political statements against the Modi government have been used multiple times by the Pakistani establishment to target India. Pakistani politicians love quoting Rahul Gandhi. They even use his and his party’s statements to validate their rantings against India in international platforms.
Last year, Pakistan’s national radio had used Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders’ statements over the Balakot surgical strike to peddle lies against India. Actually, the rantings and ravings of Congress against the Indian government is so dear to Pakistan that heir PM Imran Khan has even used Congress to assert his statements against India. Last year, Pakistan’s anti-India dossier to the UNHRC featured former Congress President Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders over the abrogation of Article 370.
Prior to that too, Pakistan had written to the UN accusing India of carrying out human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir and had used this statement by Rahul Gandhi and other leftist leaders to further its narrative.
Both Pakistan and Rahul Gandhi are unfortunately found speaking the same language as pointed out by many. Last year, in a letter to the United Nations, Pakistan Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari had used Rahul Gandhi’s arguments to criticise the abrogation of Article 370 on an international platform.
