Sajjad Shaukat
IN the modern era, social media has made it much difficult for politicians to speak lies and to hide information. But, Indian rulers and politicians keep on speaking lies. In this respect, storm has be made even in India when their media took notice of the recent revelations of the website. The Wire which disclosed the leaked WhatsApp conversations between an anchorperson of Indian Channel Republic TV Arnab Goswami and Partho Dasgupta, the former CEO of the rating agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), exposing the sinister designs hatched by the Prime Minister Narendar Modi’s government to blame Pakistan for the false Pulwama attack, followed by a failed air strike on Balakot in 2019.
The Wire elaborated: “These purported conversations which cover topics from the Pulwama attack to Kashmir’s annexation shows, Goswami was aware of the Indian government’s plans well in advance, Pulwama attack on 14 Feb 2019, in which 40 soldiers were killed, Modi, ventured into dangerous military adventurism to win the 2019 general election.” In this regard, Chairman Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Shehryar Khan Afridi: “WhatSapp leaks of an Indian journalist Arnab Goswami again proved that the Pulwama attack was an inside job orchestrated by Indian intelligence to blame Pakistan and Kashmiri freedom fighters.”
However, very tensions escalated between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Indian false flag terror attack at Puwama in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) when on 27 February 2019, in response to the Indian so-called air strike in the town of Balakot, close to the border with Pakistan’s sector of Kashmir, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down two Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets and launched aerial strikes at six targets in the IIOJK. Notably, in the past, New Delhi has accused Islamabad of several false flag operations, arranged by Indian intelligence agencies, particularly RAW. On 18 September 2016, India had staged the drama of the terror attack in the IIOJK at a military base in Uri, close to the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan. After the episode, without any inquiry, India’s top civil and military officials, including their media started propaganda against Pakistan by accusing that the militants who targeted the Uri base came from Pakistan’s side of Azad Kashmir and the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) controlled by the Pakistan’s intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) were involved in it. India created war-hysteria against Islamabad and started mobilization of troops near the LoC.
Nevertheless, New Delhi has always accused Islamabad of various terror attacks, as it has done multiple times-assault on Indian Parliament on 12 January 2001, simultaneous terror attacks in Mumbai on 26 November 2008 and attack at Indian Air Force Base in Pathankot on 02 January 2016. Without any investigation and evidence regarding all these false flag operations, Indian media and high officials started blaming ISI and banned militant groups Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and LeT. However, through these false flag operations, Indian Establishment not only wanted to gain sympathies of world community, but also to defame Pakistan in the comity of nations. New Delhi also availed these operations to suspend dialogue with Islamabad to resolve all issues, including the Kashmir dispute.
While on 19 July 2013, Indian former home ministry and ex-investigating officer Satish Verma disclosed that terror attacks in Mumbai in 26 November 2008 and assault on Indian Parliament in 12 January 2001 were carried out by the Indian Government to strengthen anti-terrorism laws. Exposing the nexus between the extremist outfits BJP and RSS, the then Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde revealed on 20 January 2013 that organized training camps run by the fundamentalist parties, RSS and BJP were promoting Hindu Terrorism. He also explained that these extremist parties were behind the Samjhauta Express, Meccca Masjid and Malegaon blasts. The then India’s External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid endorsed Shinde’s statement, saying that it was based on facts. But, India had accused ISI of these terrorist acts. It is mentionable that prior to the US President Barack Obama’s second visit to New Delhi, Indian intelligence agencies had orchestrated a boat drama to defame Pakistan, allegedly reporting that a Pakistani fishing boat as a Pakistan-based outfit group LeT was intercepted by Indian Coast Guards, off the coast of Porebandar, Gujarat. And Indian Coast Guard crew set boat on fire and it exploded. But, its truth exposed Indian terrorism, because, some Indian high officials admitted that there was no such boat which came from Pakistan.
In this backdrop, Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and DG of ISPR, Maj-Gen. Babar Iftikhar have repeatedly stated that India is planning false flag operation-Pulwama-II, as India faced great humiliation in the military standoff with China—India is facing many internal challenges and issues after the 05 August 2019 move, which revoked the special status of India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir — Now India thinks that the best way is to divert the attention towards Pakistan — Besides continuous violations of ceasefire agreement across the LoC, Indian quadcopters have also violated airspace on different occasions—Pakistan’s defence forces are ready to respond any Indian aggression with full might. Nonetheless, Goswami-WhatsApp leaks have clearly exposed Indian conspiracy against Pakistan, which verified Indian lies that terror attack at Pulwama was a false flag operation.
—The writer is freelance columnist based in Lahore.
