Mamata-BJP in war of words over air strike

Published : Mar 02, 2019 19:27 IST

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal are locked in a war of words following Chief Minister and Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee’s queries over claims made by the Centre regarding the air strikes on terror camps at Balakot, Pakistan.

On February 26, the Indian Airforce in a pre-emptive non-military operation, claimed to have destroyed a major terror camp at Balakot in Pakistan. The strike came 12 days after the terrorist attack in Pulwama, which claimed the lives of more than 40 jawans.

“From the first day we are hearing on national television channels that 300 to 350 persons have died in the air strike. We can very well want to know how many people actually died? Who died? Did anyone die at all? Where were the bombs dropped? Were the bombs dropped at the right place? What is the actual fact?” she said on February 28 at the State secretariat.

Mamata also said that she had come across reports in foreign media that “no such incident (as claimed by the Centre and a section of the Indian media) took place”. Citing various foreign reports she said, “The bombs fell somewhere else and missed the target. Some of them [the foreign press] are saying that only one person died.”

Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for politicising the escalating tension on the India-Pakistan border, she said, “We all love our country, but we do not love the idea of doing politics with the blood of the jawans of the country…. We don’t want war for the sake of politics. If war takes place in the interests of the country then our full support is with the country. We don’t want war for political interests and for winning an election. We want peace,” she said.

BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya described Mamata’s remarks as an “unpardonable crime” and said that the people of the country should teach her a lesson in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. “I am saddened to hear what she said…. She said she wanted proof. This is exactly what the Pakistan Prime Minister has said, and what the Pakistani media has been propagating. If a Chief Minister raises questions on the armed forces, in my view, it is an unpardonable crime.” The BJP leader described Mamata’s remarks as “pro-Pakistan”, which puts the armed forces in the dock. “At a time like this we all must rise above party politics and boost the morale of our forces,” said Vijayvargiya.

However, to make matters more uncomfortable for the BJP, Lok Sabha MP and Union Minister of State Surendrajeet Singh Ahluwalia added to the controversy by denying that the BJP leadership had ever claimed that 300 people had been killed in the air strike, and stating that the operation was meant to deliver a warning.

“After the incident, Modiji gave a speech; did he say anywhere that 300 people have been killed? Did any BJP spokesperson say that? Did Amit Shah say that? The reason there was no large-scale destruction was because by bombing their backyard in spite of heavy security, we put across the message that we are capable of destruction if needed. We did not want any human casualty,” said Ahluwalia.

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