New Delhi: The Pakistan Foreign Office Sunday termed the 2019 Pulwama attack a “false flag operation”, citing the purported WhatsApp chats of Republic TV Editor-in Chief Arnab Goswami that went viral Friday.
“The recent transcripts revelations in India further vindicate our consistent position that RSS-BJP Govt. stages ‘false flag’ operations; maligns Pakistan with terrorism-related allegations; stokes hyper-nationalism in its bid to win elections,” Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement.
The recent transcripts revelations in India further vindicate our consistent position that RSS-BJP Govt. stages “false flag” operations; maligns Pakistan with terrorism-related allegations; stokes hyper-nationalism in its bid to win elections. 1/3
? https://t.co/T20ZkT9b7U— Spokesperson ?? MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) January 17, 2021
In a statement issued later, Republic TV said it rejected the allegations made by the Pakistan government against Goswami. The Pakistan government’s statement, it said, was “proof of the deep-conspiracy of anti-India and anti-national forces” against Republic TV.
The Pulwama terror attack, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, was organised by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed. In retaliation, India had undertaken airstrikes against the terror group’s camps in Pakistan’s Balakot.
The Pakistan Foreign Office was referring to purported WhatsApp conversations between Goswami and former Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) chief executive Partho Dasgupta, which have been recorded as part of the Mumbai Police’s charge sheet in the ‘TRP scam’ case.
Goswami’s purported messages from three days before the airstrikes appear to show that he was aware of the operation.
In its statement, the Pakistan Foreign Office said the transcripts illustrate the “unholy nexus b/w the ‘Hindutva’ regime & its cronies in the Indian media”.
“Such actions by the reckless regime driven by considerations of domestic politics are gravely imperilling regional peace and security,” it added.
“We had, at the outset, rejected India’s malicious propaganda against Pakistan and highlighted that the biggest beneficiary of the Pulwama attack in February 2019 was the BJP government, as it secured a landslide victory in the ensuing Lok Sabha operations,” it said.
The transcripts, Islamabad added, “provide further evidence of how this whole enterprise from ‘false flag’ operation to massive electoral success was scripted and fully realised”.
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Republic TV responds
In its statement, Republic TV said the “desperation” with which the “government of Pakistan has attacked the Republic Media Network in an open forum today, also lays bare the involvement of anti-India forces in the conspiracy behind the Republic Media Network”.
As the days pass, it added, “we will expose this conspiracy and the involvement of people who are working against national interest”.
“We also urge the Congress party to stop working in tandem with the Government of Pakistan, consciously or unconsciously, to spread lies against India’s interests,” it said.
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