Whenever Army strikes, a Congress leader should be taken along for proof: Shahnawaz Hussain

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shahnawaz Hussain on Monday took a dig at the Congress party for demanding proof of the damage caused by the Indian Air Force’s strike on JeM camps in Pakistan’s Balakot and said that next time a Congress leader should go with the forces whenever they carry any strike. "Whenever the Air Force, Navy and the Army carry out a strike, then a Congress leader should definitely be taken so that he could see whether the action was taken and also bring the evidence," Hussain told News Nation in an exclusive chat.

Speaking to News Nation, another BJP leader Vijay Goel said that the Opposition parties were betraying the nation by raising questions on Indian Air Force’s strike. "The Opposition had raised questioned on Army’s surgical strike in 2016 as well and by doing this, they are betraying the nation. They are doing this to win the Lok Sabha elections".

On February 26, the Indian Air Force had carried out air strikes on a major JeM camp in Pakistan’s Balakot and inflicted major causalities. Although Pakistan accepted that the IAF jets entered its territory and dropped bombs, it denied that they caused any damage.

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Several reports in the international media also claimed that no one died in the strikes. Although Air Force gave no official figure, BJP president Amit Shah claimed that over 250 JeM terrorists were killed. Conflicting media reports claimed over 300 terrorists were killed.

Following the strike, while Opposition parties hailed that IAF for its action, they demanded the government to release photographs or any other evidence to support the claims of heavy damage.

Citing international media reports, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak on the claims of no casualties. “PM must speak on reports by international media that say hardly anyone died there (in Balakot airstrike),” Sibal said.

“I want to ask PM, ‘Is international media supporting Pakistan? When international media speaks against Pakistan, you feel elated. When they ask questions, you say they are asking because it supports Pakistan?” he asked.