Pahalgam terror attack | Channi brings up veracity of Balakot strikes again, backtracks after BJP attack

New Delhi: Questioning Modi government’s response to Pahalgam terror strike, senior Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi on Friday aired doubts about India’s Balakot surgical strike after the terror attack on security personnel in Pulwama, claiming “nothing happened” and he has been “asking for evidence” on where the strike happened and how many died.

Later as the BJP attacked him over the remarks, he backtracked and said the Congress stands by the government and that no proof is needed for the surgical strike.

Channi made the controversial remarks during a press conference with senior leaders Bhupesh Baghel, Jairam Ramesh, Sachin Pilot and Saptagiri Ulaka after a meeting of Congress Working Committee, which discussed the Pahalgam terror attack and Caste Census. While the party did not officially seek any resignations, Baghel asked shouldn’t Home Minister Amit Shah resign for the security lapses in Pahalgam.

Briefing the media on the resolution, Channi said the government’s actions like cancelling visas, closing down Wagah border and suspending Indus Water Treaty were not effective, as such actions does not mean anything to the families of 26 people who were killed in the April 22 terror strike.

“Forty security personnel were killed in Pulwama (in February 2019). It was election season. At that time, the government said we will do this, we will do that. Even today, I do not know where the surgical strike happened. We don’t know how many were killed? Where in Pakistan did it happen? If a bomb is dropped in our country, we will know,” he said.

“We said we did a surgical strike in Pakistan. Nothing happened. We did not see anything. Nobody knew,” he said. He said he has been seeking evidence for a long time.

Responding to the same question, Pilot said the Congress acts in “supreme national interest”. He said the government must respond to the Pahalgam strike in a way that is satisfactory to 1.4 billion Indians, who have given “unquestionable support” to the government.

“This cannot go on, Pulwama, Pahalgam, this has to stop. It cannot keep going on and we keep getting injured, mutilated and killed and then we respond with some rhetoric and ask armed forces to do what they deem fit. The command and control should be with the political leadership. So we seek an adequate response in a time-bound fashion,” he said.

Baghel asked why was Prime Minister Narendra Modi not showing the ‘laal aankh’ (red eye) to Pakistan. “Around ten days have passed. What has he done?” he asked.

He also echoed Pilot when he said how can one leave the responsibility to the armed forces when the government is the authority to take decisions.