Published 10:43 IST, October 30th 2020
As Pakistan admits Pulwama, Javadekar wants Congress & conspiracy theorists to apologise
Information & Broadcast Minister Prakash Javdekar demanded the Congress party to apologise to the country for peddling conspiracy theories of the Pulwama attack
Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar demanded that the Congress party apologise to the country for peddling conspiracy theories over the Pulwama attack, following Pakistan's admission in taking responsibility for the heinous act of terrorism in February 2019.
Pakistan's involvement in the Pulwama attack was exposed after Pakistan's Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry boasted that the attack was Imran Khan's biggest achievement, during a debate on the floor of the Pakistan Assembly amid political turmoil in India's neighbour.
Taking on the Congress and other critics who talked of conspiracy theories, Prakash Javadekar demanded an apology to the nation, especially after Pakistan had now admitted its hand in the Pulwama attack.
Pakistan Admits To Pulwama Attack
Pakistan minister Fawad Chaudhury on Thursday while speaking in the Pakistan National Assembly, admitted to the Imran Khan government's involvement in the 2019 Pulwama attack in which 40 Indian Army jawans were martyred. Chaudhry - who is Federal Minister for Science and Technology - claimed that the 'Pulwama was the biggest achievement' of the Imran Khan government. Retaliating to PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq's claims on Pakistan's Army Chief's trepidation over IAF's Wing Commander Abhinandan, Chaudhry termed the terror attack as a feat where Pakistan 'entered Indian territory and attacked them.' (India me ghuske maara).
NIA's Pulwama chargesheet
On August 25, NIA filed a 13,500-page chargesheet on the February 14, 2019, Pulwama terror attack and named several Pakistani nationals as accused in the case. Apart from bomber Waiz-ul-Islam, others named in the charge sheet include Pakistani nationals Rouf Asgar Alvi, Ammar Alvi, Mohd Ismail, Muhammad Umar Farooq, Mohd Kamran Ali, and Qari Yasir. Recently in August, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava slammed Pakistan as it continued to fail to take action against terror-outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad, even after the JeM claimed the responsibility for the Pulwama attack, and stated that the Indian govt has shared enough evidence pertaining to the same with the neighbouring country.
Out of the 19 names in the chargesheet, 7 are said to be in NIA's custody, another 7 are said to have been encountered by the forces, and 5 are said to be in Pakistan. The 7 JeM operatives under NIA's custody include Mohammad Abbas Rather, Tariq Ahmad Shah, Mohammad Iqbal Rather, Shakir Bashir Magrey, Waiz-ul-Islam, Insha Jan, and Bilal Ahmed Kuchey. The Pulwama mastermind - Masood Azhar and his family have been reported missing from Pakistan Army's custody since February.
Pulwama Attacks
On February 14, 2019, a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel on the Jammu Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethpora (near Awantipora) in the Pulwama district, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The attack resulted in the martyrdom of 40 CRPF personnel and the death of the attacker. The responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed. However, at numerous points since then, including amid the arrest of J&K DySP Davinder Singh, the Congress and other Opposition parties alleged conspiracy behind the attack.
Updated 10:43 IST, October 30th 2020