Should IAF take Congress leaders with them in military operations?: Shahnawaz Hussain

The BJP on Tuesday hit back at the Congress for demanding proof of the number of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists killed in the air strikes launched by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Balakot, Pakistan last month.

Talking to TIMESOFINDIA.COM, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain alleged that the Congress trusts the foreigners and foreign media more than the Indian armed forces.

He said, “While 130 crore Indians trust the IAF, handful of opposition leaders are raising doubts over their valour in raiding the training grounds of the terrorists in Pakistan. So, should the armed forces take the Congress leaders also along with them during their raids from the next time?”

Shahnawaz Hussain, who is also a member of BJP’s Central Election Committee, lamented that the Congress leaders were demanding proof at a time when not even the foreign countries were doing so.

He was referring to the statements of Congress leaders such as Digvijaya Singh, Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram and Navjot Singh Sidhu who questioned the basis for BJP president Amit Shah's claim that 250 terrorists were killed in the strike and asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi or his government was not giving out the details of casualties.

The BJP leader said Congress president Rahul Gandhi had lauded the role of the IAF on February 26 and accused him of letting his lieutenants loose on the armed forces. “The Rahul army is pitted against the Indian Army,” he said.

Shahnawaz Hussain recalled that when Indira Gandhi’s Congress government had ordered invasion of the erstwhile East Pakistan and was instrumental in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, all the opposition parties except the CPM had joined hands to hail the then prime minister.

The BJP leader said as president of Jan Sangh, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had lauded Indira Gandhi and offered all cooperation to her.

He charged that the Congress did not only not know how to remain in power but also did not know how to play the role of a responsible opposition.

The BJP leader said it was highly unfortunate that Pakistan was running the Congress versions to bolster their own argument.

Besides Shahnawaz Hussain, Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that senior Congress leaders were speaking the "language of Pakistan".

He accused the Congress of "lowering the morale and prestige" of the forces by seeking evidence of the air strike carried out by the IAF on a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp in Pakistan.


But the Congress leaders have taken on the BJP and accused them of spreading "false propaganda" over the February 26 air strike in Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Former Union minister P Chidambaram questioned the number of JeM terrorists killed in the Balakot air strike. In a series of tweets he said, “IAF Vice Air Marshal declined to comment on casualties. MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) statement said there were no civilian or military casualties. So, who put out the number of casualties as 300-350? As a proud citizen I am prepared to believe my government. But if we want the world to believe, government must make the effort, not indulge in Opposition-bashing.”


Another senior Congress leader and former Union minister Kapil Sibal raised question over the veracity of the claims made by some BJP leaders regarding the number of terrorists who were killed. “Is international media 1) New York Times 2) London based Jane's Information Group 3) Washington Post 4) Daily Telegraph 5) The Guardian 6) Reuters reporting no proof of militant losses at Balakot pro-Pakistan? You are guilty of politicising terror?” he tweeted.


Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh was trolled on the social media for calling the Pulwama terror attack as an “accident” besides demanding proof of the success of the air strikes. “But after Pulwama durghatna (accident) and the air strike by the India Air Force, some foreign media raised suspicion whereby the credibility of the Indian government is being questioned.”


A major controversy has erupted over Pulwama and the air strikes at Balakot since then.