Arnab Goswami, chief editor of India's Republic TV, has revealed that February 2019 Pulwama attack in Indian-administered Kashmir was a false-flag operation, in which 44 personnel of Central Reserve Police Force were killed while India had blamed Pakistan for this attack.
According to Indian media, Arnab Goswami, a journalist close to the Modi government, was happy at the Pulwama attack and knew about retaliatory attack on Balakot, Pakistan, beforehand.
Leaked Whatsapp chats of the Indian journalist with Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) CEO Partho Dasgupta have revealed that Arnab told Partho about the attack three days before it took place.
Arnab Goswami had informed about the Indian plan on February 23, 2019, and the attack took place on February 26, after which the Pakistan Air Force shot down an Indian plane and captured one Indian pilot.
As per the leaked chat of Arnab Goswami, he boasted that the Modi government was about to take a big step against Pakistan, and it would be much bigger than any such attack before.
Tellingly, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the deaths of his country's soldiers to gain sympathy in the 2019 elections.
India went to polls in May 2019, barely a few weeks after the Pulwama attack. PM Modi and his party, the BJP, had made the killing of Indian soldiers a huge election issue in a bid to extract the much-needed electoral mileage. Modi returned to power with a bigger mandate a few months later.
The Print
According to The Print, a New Delhi-based online newspaper, the exchange between Goswami and the then-Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) chief executive Partho Dasgupta over WhatsApp, revealed that Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party administration (BJP) had planned the air strike, just before the election, in a way that would 'elate' the people.
During the conversation dated 23 February 2019, Goswami informed Dasgupta that "something big will happen". When the latter inquired if it was about "Dawood", the Republic TV anchor responded, "No sir, Pakistan. Something major will be done this time." Details of the chat between the two show Goswami claiming that the air strikes were meant to secure victory for BJP's Narendra Modi in the parliamentary election that year.
"It's good for big man in this season. He (Modi) will sweep polls then," replied Dasgupta, asking whether it will be "a strike" or "something bigger".
Three days later, in the most jarring escalation of hostilities in more five decades, India's warplanes crossed into Pakistan's airspace to conduct what its air force called were strikes against terror camps. For the domestic audience, the attack was presented as India's response to what happened in Pulwama on February 14, 2019.
False-flag attack
Pulwama was a false flag that was orchestrated for domestic political gain; this has been vindicated today with the leak in India said Special Assistant to Pakistan's Prime Minister on National Security Strategic Policy Planning, Dr Moeed Yusuf.
Dr Moeed Yusuf said that the Pulwama attack was orchestrated by the Indian leadership to extract the much-needed electoral mileage in the parliamentary polls later that year.
"Pakistan had told the world that Pulwama was a false flag that was orchestrated for domestic political gain; this has been vindicated today with the leak in India," Dr Moeed Yusuf said, adding that India through its actions is a threat to regional peace.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
