There is no proof of India's surgical strike against Pakistan, says Digvijaya Singh; BJP hits back

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Monday said there is no proof that India carried out surgical strikes against Pakistan in 2016 following the deadly terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir's Uri. BJP swiftly countered Digvijaya's statement and lashed out at Congress leaders for questioning India's armed forces.
"They [Centre] said they killed so many, but there is no proof," Singh said in an address in Jammu on Monday, adding that the saffron party's rule is based on lies.
Digvijaya Singh also targeted the Centre over the Pulwama terror attack in 2019 in which 44 CRPF personnel were killed.

"The CRPF had sought airlifting of officials from Srinagar to Delhi, owing to the area being a sensitive one, but the Centre refused. He said the 2019 tragedy could have been averted had the vehicle, which launched the attack on the CRPF convoy, was properly checked," he claimed.
In a video released on Twitter later, Singh questioned how the terrorists got 300kg RDX which was used in the Pulwama attack. "DSP Devendra Singh was caught with terrorists but then why was he released? We also want to know about the friendship between the Prime Minister of Pakistan and India," Singh said.

Moments after Digvijaya's statement, the BJP launched a strong counter-offensive, saying the party has repeatedly insulted the people and India's armed forces by raising questions over the surgical strikes.

"It's the character of Congress party to make irresponsible statements. The country will not tolerate anyone speaking against our security forces. Due to their hate towards PM [Narendra] Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Digvijaya Singh do not have patriotism left in them anymore," Bhatia said.

Bhatia said that Rahul and Congress leaders do not trust India's constitutional system and the country's brave armed forces.
On September 18, 2016, heavily-armed terrorists attacked an Indian Army camp in Kashmir's Uri sector, killing several soldiers.
Just 11 days later, the Indian Army retaliated by conducting surgical strikes deep inside Pakistani territory, attacking multiple terror launch pads.
India launched a similar action after the Pulwama attacks of 2019 when Indian Air Force jets carried out an air strike on Jaish-e-Muhammed facility in Balakot.
The IAF presented to the media the high-resolution satellite pictures possessed which showed three holes in the roof of one of the buildings. These holes were reported as "signature of a SPICE bomb strike."
(With inputs from agencies)
Watch Congress leader Digvijaya Singh: 'There is no proof of surgical strike against Pakistan'