The political sniping that started after the IAF air strike against terrorists in Pakistan again led the BJP and the Modi-Government on Tuesday to attack the Congress for doubting the effectiveness of the operation and accused it of lowering the morale of armed forces as several senior Central Ministers defended Government stand with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh cryptically maintaining that the number of terrorists killed in Balakot would be “ known one day.”
Charging the Opposition with doing politics over the "valour and sacrifice" of defence personnel, the Minister advised the Congress, which been demanding proof of the retaliatory assault and casualties in the aftermath of the Pulwama suicide bombing that left 40 CRPF men dead, to go to Pakistan and count the bodies if they indeed wanted to ascertain the number of fatalities.
While Union Minister Ravishankar Prasad speaking on behalf of the BJP here at Party headquarters lashed out at the Congress for allegedly echoing Pakistan’s view points on the air strike, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at Chennai sought to say that the IAF strike that destroyed a Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camp in Pakistan’s Balakot area was “not a military action” as there was no civilian casualty.
She also said Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale had not given any casualty figure in his media briefing after the air strike and only gave a statement which is the government’s “position”.
Gokhale had said the non-military and preemptive strike on the Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp killed a “very large number” of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders.
Sitharaman said, “There was no need to analyse more on Balakot strike” as she declined to link the air strike on terror camp with the coming Lok Sabha election.
“After Pulwama attack, we were waiting patiently for days... When we got information the terrorist attacks were originating from that region (Pakistan), without military action, we carried out the strike pointedly,” she told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan , a pension scheme.
“Civilians in the vicinity or surrounding areas were not affected in any way, so we have been saying the strike we carried out after Pulwama suicide bombing was not a military action,” she added.
Joining the debate Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh who was speaking at Dhubri, Assam, stated “It will be known one day how many terrorists were killed in Balakot”. “If Congress wants to know how many terrorists were killed, they should go to Pakistan and ask there or count bodies,” said Rajnath taking a swipe at the Opposition party.
“NTRO system showed there were 300 mobile phones active at Balakot attack site; were these used by trees if not terrorists,” quipped Home Minister.
BJP leader Prasad seized on Congress leader Digvijay Singh’s tweet, terming the Pulwama terror attack a “durghatna” (accident), to mount a stinging attack on the opposition party and allege that its senior leaders are speaking the language of Pakistan.
Prasad also referred to comments of Congress’ former ministers Kapil Sibal and P Chidambaram to claim they do not trust the Indian Army and the Air Force. No foreign country has sought evidence of the air strike, the BJP leader said, adding that Congress leaders do not believe in Indian media reports.
“It is part of a design with blessings of (Congress president) Rahul Gandhi and (UPA chairperson) Sonia Gandhi. Let the country ask them questions,” the Union Minister said.
He also asked the Congress not to “reduce the morale, courage and prestige of our forces” for “petty extraneous political gains”.
Prasad also attacked Chidambaram for asking who had made the claim of 300-350 terrorists being killed in Balakot when neither the Air Force nor MEA gave out any figure.