Pakistan to India: Wait for Our Retaliatory Response
The heightened confrontation between the two countries follows the recent terror attack on Central Reserve Police Force men in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.
By Rakesh Raman
Pakistan has strongly refuted India’s claims of killing Pakistani people in today’s airstrikes, saying India is lying about the casualties as no one got killed in the attack.
In an official statement today, the Indian government claimed that India struck the biggest training camp of terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad JeM in Balakot.
In this operation, according to the statement, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated.
Although the statement did not mention the number of casualties, a section of Indian media has been claiming the airstrikes killed 350 terrorists in Pakistan.
DG ISPR Press Conference – 26 February 2019https://t.co/jjBxIotv18
— Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) February 26, 2019
However, in a press conference today evening, Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, spokesperson of Pakistan Armed Forces, asked if India’s claims are true, where are the dead bodies of the people killed in the so-called attack?
He also dismissed the Indian assertions that the operation lasted for about 20 minutes. Ghafoor countered that the Indian fighter planes were in the Pakistan airspace for merely 3-4 minutes and they were driven out by the local response team. While going back, he said, the Indians randomly threw a few bombs at an uninhabited land.
Ghafoor added that Pakistan is ready to retaliate and it will surprise the Indians. A few days ago Pakistan PM Imran Khan also said that Pakistan will not think, but it will simply retaliate.
Pakistan has invited media persons to visit the site where Indian planes threw the bombs to show that it was an abandoned place and there was no damage done.
The heightened confrontation between the two countries follows the recent terror attack on CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) men in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in which more than 40 Indian men died.
Pakistan has repeatedly asserted that India’s ruling party BJP under PM Narendra Modi has stage-managed the terrorists attack on its soil to solicit people’s support when the Lok Sabha election is just a few months away.
Pakistan PM Imran Khan also asserted that Modi is trying to take advantage in the upcoming election by blaming Pakistan without any evidence for attacks on the Indians. It is being observed that the Modi’s party BJP is taking undue political mileage for attacks by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Pakistan.
The chattering classes also argue that India cannot blame the outsiders such as Pakistan terrorists for the incidents that are happening in India. It is the responsibility of the Indian government and Indian security forces to avert such attacks instead of blaming Pakistan or external terrorists.
It is being asked why Indian security forces allow Pakistan terrorists to enter India. So, India cannot blame others for its own security lapses.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He also creates and publishes a number of digital publications on different subjects.
