Pulwama Attack: Did Modi Order False Flag Operation in Kashmir?

On 14 February 2019, a terrorist attack near Pulwama in Kashmir killed 40 Indian soldiers. It has now come to light that Indian TV anchor Arnab Goswami had prior knowledge of it. He wrote in a WhatApp message to BARC TV rating company head Pratho Dasgupta on that day that his channel was “20 min ahead on the biggest terrorist attack of the year in Kashmir”. "This attack we have won like crazy", he added. Arnab Goswami has close ties to the nation's Hindu Nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr. Modi's government implicated Pakistan and ordered air strikes in Balakot.  These recent disclosures are raising serious questions about Pulwama and its aftermath. Was this a false flag operation carried out by Indian intelligence agencies to create a pretext for an attack on Pakistan? Was the killing of Indian soldiers in Pulwama orchestrated by the Modi government to win India's general elections that soon followed in April-May 2019? Could this reckless act by India's leader have escalated into a full-scale nuclear war with Pakistan, leading to hundreds of millions of deaths? 

Goswami's WhatsApp Messages on Pulwama Attack


Arnab Goswami and Pratho Dasgupta have been indicted in Indian state of Maharashtra for manipulating television ratings of Republic TV. As part of the prosecution's case, Mumbai police have submitted evidence that includes transcripts of WhatsApp conversations between Goswami and Dasgupta which suggest that the former had prior knowledge of the Pulwama terrorist attack

The transcript shows Goswami writing to Dasgupta on Feb 14, 2019, the day of the Pulwama attack: “Sir 20 min ahead on the biggest terrorist attack of the year in Kashmir....only only channel with a ground presence”. It begs the question: How did Goswami's channel manage to have its media team in Pulwama at the time of the attack without prior knowledge of what was going to happen? Who told them about it? 

In addition to Pulwama attack, Goswami also had knowledge of Balakot bombing in Pakistan that Modi ordered on February 26, 2019. This again raises the question: How did Goswami learn about it? 

This must be seen in the context of India's history of false flag operations, starting with Ganga Fokker aircraft hijacking in 1971. According to ex RAW official RK Yadav, the 1971 Fokker hijacking to Lahore was orchestrated by India's RAW. The staged hijacking was used by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as pretext for banning overflights of Pakistani passenger planes in 1971. Here's what Yadav wrote in his book:  

"There was an agent of R&AW-Hashim Qureshi in Srinagar.......R&AW persuaded Hashim Qureshi to work for them.....After the plan was given final shape, on January 30, 1971, Hashim Qureshi along with another operative Ashraf Qureshi, his relative, was allowed to hijack a Fokker Friendship plane Ganga of Indian Airlines with 26 passengers on board, to take the plane to Lahore airport. R&AW allowed him to carry a grenade and a toy pistol inside the plane. Pakistani authorities at Lahore airport allowed the plane to land when they were informed that it had been hijacked by National Liberation Front activist militants of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. All India Radio soon made broadcast of this hijacking and the whole world was informed that the Pakistan Government was behind this hijacking...The incident overtly gave India the right opportunity which was planned by R.N. Kao, to cancel the flights of Pakistan over its territory which hampered the plans of Yahya Khan to send its troops by air to curb the political movement of Mujib in East Pakistan".  

After reading the WhatsApp transcripts of Goswami's conversation with Dasgupta, it is hard to escape the conclusion that both Pulwama and Balakot were orchestrated and timed by Mr. Modi's Hindu Nationalist government to ensure BJP's win in 2019 elections. These were reckless actions that could have escalated into a major nuclear war between India and Pakistan. It was Pakistan's measured response to Indian provocation that prevented widespread destruction and the deaths of hundreds of millions of innocent people in South Asia and elsewhere. 


Comments

Riaz Haq said…
#India released confession video of a man purported to be "Ajmal Kasab" after the #Mumbai #terror attack. It raises serious questions, particularly about his #Mumbaikar accent and the fact that he seeks forgiveness from "Bhagwan", not Allah. #FalseFlag https://www.riazhaq.com/2015/01/mumbai-attack-confession-rare-jihadi.html
Riaz Haq said…
Another now well-known #Indian false flag op, according to ex RAW official RK Yadav, was Fokker hijacking to #Lahore by #RAW agent Hashim Qureshi. It was then used by Indira Gandhi as pretext for banning overflights of #Pakistani passenger planes in 1971.

"There was an agent of R&AW-Hashim Qureshi in Srinagar.......R&AW persuaded Hashim Qureshi to work for them.....After the plan was given final shape, on January 30, 1971, Hashim Qureshi along with another operative Ashraf Qureshi, his relative, was allowed to hijack a Fokker Friendship plane Ganga of Indian Airlines with 26 passengers on board, to take the plane to Lahore airport. R&AW allowed him to carry a grenade and a toy pistol inside the plane. Pakistani authorities at Lahore airport allowed the plane to land when they were informed that it had been hijacked by National Liberation Front activist militants of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. All India Radio soon made broadcast of this hijacking and the whole world was informed that the Pakistan Government was behind this hijacking...The incident overtly gave India the right opportunity which was planned by R.N. Kao, to cancel the flights of Pakistan over its territory which hampered the plans of Yahya Khan to send its troops by air to curb the political movement of Mujib in East Pakistan".

https://www.riazhaq.com/2015/05/ex-indian-spy-documents-raws-successes.html


Riaz Haq said…
"While the mature handling of the crisis by Pakistan’s leadership averted the worst-case scenario, the fact that the Modi government orchestrated the Pulwama false flag to gain domestic political advantage showcased jingoistic mindset ruling New Delhi."


https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/778468-modi-s-india


Coming on the heels of the busting of India’s biggest clandestine disinformation operation by the EU DisinfoLab barely a month ago, Goswami-gate has shown a fresh light on the dirty games that the Hindutva-inspired Modi government has been playing ever since he ascended the throne in New Delhi in 2014.


The exchange of explosive Whatsapp chats between the firebrand Republic TV anchor, Arnab Goswami, and BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta is replete with all manner of incriminating evidence.

The revelation that Goswami knew “something big will happen” three days ahead of the IAF warplanes flew into Pakistan and dropped their payload in Balakot must send shivers down the spine of all those who remain invested in peace and stability in one of the world’s highly volatile regions.

A plain reading of the texts makes it abundantly clear that the Modi government took the risk to upset the bilateral status quo with a keen eye on the potential electoral gains that such an act of brinkmanship was presumed to accrue.

As Pakistan mulled options to respond to the Indian aggression, the air was thick with a possibility of hostilities breaking out, an event that could have threatened the nuclear threshold.

While the mature handling of the crisis by Pakistan’s civil and military leadership did avert the worst-case scenario, the fact that the Modi government orchestrated the Pulwama false flag to gain domestic political advantage showcased the kind of jingoistic mindset that is ruling New Delhi.

The strategic restraint shown by Pakistan drew widespread appreciation from world capitals. The swift counteraction by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) restored the balance of aerial power and the return of the captured IAF pilot marked a diplomatic victory for Islamabad.

The events that happened in a span of weeks, following the Pulwama incident, presented a sharp contrast in the thinking of the Pakistani and Indian leadership as well as their respective approaches to regional peace and stability.

The second term of Narendra Modi as India’s prime minister has been marked by a series of actions that are ideologically driven with an express aim to rethink the idea of India in contravention of its founding-fathers’ ideals.

If the BJP possessed a little over 20 percent of votes in the early 1990s, today its hold on the Indian electorate is complete, a fact evidenced by its strongest ever showing in the polls in 2019 that gave Modi a landslide victory. Modi’s takeover of the party has also been complemented by a transformation of its internal political culture: from being a right of center party, the BJP has come a long way off -- becoming the mouthpiece and champion of the Hindutva ideology that seeks to reimagine India as a Hindu-only country.

Even from the standards of Indian politics of the right, the BJP’s old guard such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee appears to be towering personalities with a clear understanding of the world and the need for peaceful coexistence with neighbouring countries such as Pakistan.

Known for his role in the Gujarat pogrom in 2002, Modi’s political journey has witnessed tremendous growth from the periphery to the center of Indian politics. He successfully employed religious narrative wrapped in a jargon that harkened back to the mythical glorious past of the ‘great Hindu nation’, a status ‘denied’ to them firstly by Muslim invaders and then the imperialist British. He presented the BJP as the sole voice of the Hindus, working to make India a Hindu-only country. In the process, he was shrewd enough to cut all political rivals out of competition that could challenge his rising ascendancy in the party.
Riaz Haq said…
UAE Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba in #WashingtonDC: #UAE played part in #India-#Pakistan cease-fire. Union of 7 sheikhdoms on #Arabian Peninsula home to #AbuDhabi and #Dubai has a large expatriate workforce of Indians & Pakistanis. #Kashmir #Modi #ImranKhan https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/ambassador-uae-played-part-in-india-pakistan-cease-fire/2021/04/15/eb4cb4a4-9dde-11eb-b2f5-7d2f0182750d_story.html?tid=ss_tw


“At least we want to get it (India-Pakistan ties) to a level where it’s functional, where it’s operational, where they are speaking to each other, where there’s lines of communication,” al-Otaiba said. “That’s our goal.”
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Speaking in a video released Wednesday by Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, al-Otaiba acknowledged an Emirati role “in bringing the Kashmir escalation down” between the two nuclear-armed nations.

“We try to be helpful where we have influence with two different countries,” al-Otaiba told H.R. McMaster, a former national security adviser to Trump. “India and Pakistan was the most recent one.”

In February, India and Pakistan agreed to adhere to a 2003 accord over the heavily militarized Himalayan region that had been largely ignored since its signing. Troops regularly exchanged artillery, rocket and small-arms fire across the so-called Line of Control, killing hundreds including civilians.

Kashmir has been divided but claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan since almost immediately after the two countries’ creation in 1947. They have fought three wars against each other, two directly dealing with the disputed region. India in 2019 stripped Kashmir of its semi-autonomy and took direct control over it, sparking unrest.


The sudden cease-fire in February came as a surprise, especially given Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist agenda and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s own comments about India.

The two sides had reached the brink of war in 2019 after what India called a preemptive strike against militants blamed for a suicide bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops. Pakistan retaliated, shooting down a MiG-21 fighter jet and capturing its pilot, whom they later released.

That the UAE could be a trusted interlocutor isn’t surprising. The federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai has a large expatriate workforce of Indians and Pakistanis across both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Emirati sheikhs maintain close relations to both countries because of it.


In Pakistan, a security official told The Associated Press the UAE did play a role in brokering the cease-fire. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn’t authorized to brief journalists, declined to say where these meetings took place.

An Indian security official told the AP the two countries had decided to keep the talks “secret and low key.” But he described the UAE’s role as providing “nothing but the venue” in Dubai. The official also spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn’t authorized to talk to reporters.

The UAE, which hosts 3,500 American troops and the U.S. Navy’s busiest foreign port of call, remains a close partner in the region, having sent troops at one point to Afghanistan. The UAE has tried to trade on its efforts to host peace talks between Ethiopia and Eritrea, as well as its recognition of Israel, to bolster those ties. It hopes to purchase advanced F-35 fighter jets from the U.S. as part of a $23 billion sale.

Riaz Haq said…
Top #Indian newspaper raided by #tax authorities after months of critical coverage.Under #Modi, several critical media outlets have found themselves in tax investigators’ crosshairs, raising fears about the health of the independent press in #India. #BJP https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/india-modi-press-raid/2021/07/22/facbc01a-eabd-11eb-84a2-d93bc0b50294_story.html?tid=ss_tw

“The raid is the outcome of our aggressive reporting, especially during the second wave of the pandemic in April,” Gaur said by telephone. “Unlike some other media, we reported how people were dying for lack of oxygen and hospital beds.”

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Indian tax authorities on Thursday raided one of the country's most prominent newspapers in what journalists and the political opposition denounced as retaliation for the outlet's hard-nosed coverage of the government's pandemic response.

The Dainik Bhaskar Group, whose Hindi-language broadsheet boasts a combined circulation of more than 4 million, was raided simultaneously in at least four locations, including at its headquarters in Madhya Pradesh state.

Surabhi Ahluwalia, a spokeswoman for the tax authority, said searches were underway at multiple locations across the country linked to the group, but she declined to share details about the case. She said the department usually conducts searches in matters of tax evasion.

But the justification of tax evasion was panned by government critics, who pointed out that Dainik Bhaskar has been persistently needling India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with its coverage, including as recently as this week.

India used spyware to hack journalists and others

The Press Club of India said in a statement that it “deplores such acts of intimidation by the government through enforcement agencies to deter the independent media.”

Under the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who rose to power in 2014, several critical media outlets have found themselves in tax investigators’ crosshairs, raising fears about the health of the independent press in the world’s largest democracy. Reporters Without Borders, an advocacy group for journalists, recently placed India at 142nd place in its press freedom rankings, roughly on par with Myanmar and Mexico.

Om Gaur, Dainik Bhaskar’s national editor, said his staff’s mobile devices were seized during the raids as a “tactic to harass journalists.”

“The raid is the outcome of our aggressive reporting, especially during the second wave of the pandemic in April,” Gaur said by telephone. “Unlike some other media, we reported how people were dying for lack of oxygen and hospital beds.”

The tax investigation “is not going to change anything for us,” he added. “We will keep doing good journalism.”

As covid-19 roiled India this spring, Dainik Bhaskar splashed photos of funeral pyres on its front pages, reported on corpses floating in the Ganges River and repeatedly challenged the government’s narrative about the disaster and its official death statistics. Gaur, the editor, contributed an op-ed in the New York Times that made waves in his home country.

The paper has sometimes taken a less-than-orthodox approach to holding government accountable: As citizens in the state of Gujarat struggled to procure covid-19 medication in April, the paper published the phone number of the BJP’s state president in a massive front-page headline.

Riaz Haq said…
According to the authors (Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark of Spy Stories), ISI officials disclaimed all knowledge of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) attack in Pulwama within hours of the incident, which was apparently planned in Afghanistan’s Helmand, and not Pakistan. Mr. Doval and Deputy NSA Rajinder Khanna disbelieved the Pakistani messages, however, and carried out the Balakot air strikes to “humiliate the Pakistan military”, the book recounts.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/two-foreign-journalists-had-post-pulwama-back-channel-role-between-india-pakistan-says-book/article35861441.ece

In another disclosure, the authors say that Indian investigators found that “corrupt local police officers” had helped four JeM terrorists sneak into the Pathankot airbase to carry out an attack, in which seven personnel of security forces were killed. In a surprise move, the Modi government had invited a team of Pakistani investigators to Pathankot to jointly investigate the terror attack, but relations broke down between the two countries shortly after, and the joint investigation plan went nowhere. The NIA charge-sheet filed the same year against JeM doesn’t mention that the terrorists were helped by uniformed men.

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Note: "Corrupt local police officers" included DSP Davinder Singh. Indian government recently refused to probe and press charges against Davinder Singh. Were these false flag ops orchestrated by Indian intelligence?

https://www.opindia.com/2021/08/did-govt-order-say-no-probe-investigation-necessary-in-davinder-singh-case-fact-check/
Riaz Haq said…
No major terrorist attack took place in India since Modi became PM in 2014, says Rajnath Singh

https://theprint.in/india/no-major-terrorist-attack-took-place-in-india-since-modi-became-pm-in-2014-says-rajnath-singh/726932/

“No matter what it takes, we will not let terrorists succeed. Forget about Jammu and Kashmir, no major terrorist attack took place in any part of the country after the arrival of Modiji. This is our major achievement. It seems that terrorists are now scared of the BJP government. This is not a small thing,” he said.

“Terrorists now realise that they are not secure even in their safe havens. What we did (surgical strike in PoK) after the Uri attack gave a clear message to the world that we can kill terrorists on this side as well as by crossing the border if need arises,” Singh added.

If the previous Congress governments were sensitive towards Army jawans, the issue of OROP, which the jawans had been demanding for 40 years, would have been resolved. But the Congress did not accept the demand, the minister said.
Riaz Haq said…
Fidato
@tequieremos

In 1980, India and Israel collaborated a joint attack against Pakistan's nuclear plant in Kahuta. The nuclear program was still in the embryonic state. Plus there were no F-16 aircrafts with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) to counter such a strike. A squadron of Israeli aircraft...


https://twitter.com/tequieremos/status/1447977997177442310?s=20


https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/48288/did-india-plan-to-get-pakistans-nuclear-facility-destroyed-by-israel-in-the-mid

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New Delhi paused. Israel stepped in, suggesting that it carry out the raid, using India’s airbase at Jamnagar to launch Israeli air force jets and a second base in northern India to refuel. A senior Israeli analyst close to the operation recalled that the plan was to enter Pakistan beneath the radar, with jets tracking the line of the Himalayas through Kashmir. As Reagan’s staff finalized arrangements for the president’s visit to China in March 1984, prime minister Indira Gandhi signed off the Israeli-led operation, bringing India, Pakistan and Israel to within a hair’s breadth of a nuclear conflagration. It was at this point that the CIA tipped off President Zia, hoping the chain reaction would defuse the situation. And after Khan’s outbursts in the Pakistani newspapers, India and Israel had backed off. But these were high-stakes games, played between a known nuclear nation—India—and another—Pakistan—that Reagan continued to insist had no capability, the US deception bringing the region even further towards an apocalyptic conflagration.

Soon afterwards, Khan was at it again. This time sticking to a tight script, he contacted the Daily Jang and The Muslim. “Pakistan can set up several nuclear centers of the Kahuta pattern,” he bragged, knowing that every one of his words was being read over the border. “In the event of the destruction of the Kahuta plant, more than one such plant can be set up in Pakistan.” To make things absolutely clear, Pakistan’s ambassador in New Delhi approached the Indian foreign office, promising that they would make it rain fire if India went ahead.

Indira Gandhi had her resolve to do something about Kahuta rekindled in March 1984, when, just weeks after the Chinese president Li Xiannian visited Pakistan and stated that China endorsed a nuclear weapons-free South Asia, the Indian foreign ministry learned that China appeared to have detonated a nuclear-capable device on behalf of Pakistan at its test site at Lop Nor, an event witnessed by Pakistan’s foreign minister.30 In Washington, the true nature of the China–Pakistan nuclear pact also began to surface. Len Weiss, Senator Glenn’s staffer, recalled the congressional backlash as newspaper stories from the UK reached Washington claiming that US and Western intelligence had concluded that China had passed its bomb designs to Pakistan. “This news for us came from nowhere and its consequences were obvious. It was no longer just inexperienced Pakistan striving for a bomb and the US turning a blind eye. It was Pakistan backed by a sophisticated and proven nuclear power with the US burying the bad news from elected officials.”
— Adrian Levy & Catherine Scott-Clark: "Deception: Pakistan, the United States and the global nuclear weapons conspiracy", Walker Books, 2010.
Riaz Haq said…
#Indian Def Analyst Bharat Karnad: #Abhinandan "is perhaps the only fighter pilot in history to be awarded a gallantry award — Vir Chakra, for being shot down over enemy territory after a questionable...kill by him of an enemy warplane" #Pakistan #PAF #IAF https://bharatkarnad.com/2021/11/08/chinas-n-buildup-and-one-other-thing-abhinandan/

The news about Wing Commander Abhinandan making a time-grade promotion to Group Captain made me think about what brought him notoriety. He is perhaps the only fighter pilot in history to be awarded a gallantry award — Vir Chakra, for being shot down over enemy territory after a questionable, if not imaginary, kill by him of an enemy warplane. The IAF and the Indian government doubled down on the story that the combat aircraft Abhinandan shot out of the skies was a Pakistani F-16 even when it had too many holes in it. He was welcomed back, feted as a war hero with the then Air Chief, BS Dhanoa, even flying a celebratory sortie with him in a twin-seater MiG-21 Bison. Such are the small successes IAF is now reduced to.

Not to go into the details of this episode, but what really happened? In broad brush terms, Abhinandan was obviously hotdoggin’ it, picked up an adversary aircraft on his radar, went after it in hot pursuit, fired off a shortrange R-60 air-to-air missile. That missile hit something; he claimed it was an F-16. In the heat of the pursuit, he little realized he had intruded into Pakistani airspace and, too late to maneuver and scoot out of trouble, found himself and his MiG-21 shot down by a PAF plane that had him in its “cone”.

But it was not an F-16. The fact that no team from Lockheed Martin — producer of the F-16 aircraft, hightailed it to India or Pakistan to ascertain the details of that engagement is proof enough that no hardware of their’s was involved.

If it was not a PAF F-16, many IAF veterans speculate what Abhinandan had in his sights was an ex- Chinese-built JF-17. Two parachutes were observed floating down after that fighting incident, conforming to the fact of two pilots of two downed aircraft. So, why have Abhinandan and the IAF stuck to the F-16 story? Because, well, there is more glory in shooting down a frontline F-16 than a Chinese ripoff of a Russian MiG-21 — the JF-17.

Riaz Haq said…
Praveen Swami’s legacy of “sources” journalism

https://caravanmagazine.in/media/praveen-swami-india-pakistan-balakot-firstpost-journalism


By Praveen Donthi

In 2013, I reported for The Caravan on India’s compromised national security beat. I noted in the piece that reporting on the “natsec” beat in India has always been a murky business, centred on a transactional relationship between the reporters and their sources in the security establishments. The glamorous nature of natsec reporting also ensures that they keep their sources completely anonymous, and are rarely questioned by editors. These reporters rely heavily on leaks, and the price for access is publishing information without much regard for its provenance. The beneficiaries of these dynamics are India’s security establishment and its government, which, on matters of national security, prefer to function without public scrutiny and accountability.

Swami, whose work I analysed in the 2013 report, fits neatly into this pattern. “If there is one infallible indicator of what the top Indian intelligence agencies are thinking or cooking up, it is this: Praveen Swami’s articles,” a 2010 report by the Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association, a human-rights group, said.

Swami’s reports are based mostly on unnamed sources in intelligence agencies, and make big claims with recurring narrative patterns. I wrote in 2013 that his pieces often flaunted details that would have been difficult for any journalist to discover first-hand, all presented in neat, confident narratives. His work has since continued along similar lines. On 26 February, as the foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale announced that India had conducted an airstrike in Balakot, Firstpost had carried one of the first reports on the strikes. The article claimed that, “according to defence sources, IAF fighter jets not only targeted the JeM camp, but also Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen camps near Muzaffarabad.” These sources further claimed that there were six more targets “including Chakothi, Balakot and Muzaffarabad” and that five terror camps were also “targeted at Kangar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.” The article was attributed to “FP staff.”

A week after the government claimed Indian forces had carried out surgical strikes on terror-training camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on 29 September 2016, Swami wrote a story for The Indian Express, where he was Strategic and International Affairs editor at the time. The story claimed to include “information which the governments of India and Pakistan have not made public.” The article, however, only confirmed India’s claims of the strikes. Swami claimed in the report that he sent questions to five people, “using a commercially available encrypted chat system,” who visited the villages that were apparently attacked during the strikes and spoke to the residents. Swami described them as “eyewitnesses.”

One of the stories Firstpost published after the recent fracas was by Francesca Marino, an Italian journalist. Marino’s story claimed that 35 people were killed in the strikes and mentioned that “the eyewitnesses were contacted by this correspondent using encrypted communication.”

Swami’s 2016 Indian Express story included this bit about a vengeful sentiment among the ranks of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, following the surgical strikes:

Friday prayers at a Lashkar-affiliated mosque in Chalhana, another eyewitness said, ended with a cleric vowing to avenge the deaths of the men killed the previous day. “The Lashkar men gathered there were blaming the Pak Army for failing to defend the border”, he said in one message, “and saying they would soon give India an answer it would never forget”.

He authored a Firstpost story on 1 March this year, which spoke of a similar sentiment among the leadership of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, whose training camp is believed to be target of India’s recent Balakot strike:

Riaz Haq said…

Satish Acharya
@satishacharya
Infiltration!

(Cartoon shows a militant hiding under the carpet Modi and Amit Shah are standing on with binoculars looking for "infiltration" from Pakistan: The caption says: IS LET terrorist arrested in J&K is a BJP member).

https://twitter.com/satishacharya/status/1544302434243198983?s=20&t=oVW_dL0K38bAYF4etCytrw

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LeT Terrorist Arrested in J&K Was BJP's IT Cell Head, Party Denies He Was Member
Talib Hussain Shah was recently appointed as the BJP Minority Morcha's social media incharge.

https://www.thequint.com/news/india/bjps-minority-morcha-leader-among-lashkar-e-taiba-terrorists-arrested-in-jammu-social-media-it-cell-talib-shah-hussain-jammu-kashmir-amit-shah

Among the two terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) who were arrested in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, 3 July, was a BJP leader, Talib Hussain Shah.

Shah was allegedly the BJP Minority Morcha's social media incharge in Jammu. He, along with one Faizal Ahmed Dar, were apprehended by villagers in Tuksan, Reasi district, as per the police. Two AK rifles, seven grenades, six sticky bombs, wer e recovered from the two, along with other arms and ammunition.

Talib Shah was allegedly appointed as the saffron party's IT and social media incharge in Jammu in the recent past.

"Mr Talib Hussain Shah, at Draj Kotranka, District Rajouri, shall be the new IT & Social Media incharge of BJP Minority Mocha Jammu Province with immediate effect," an purported order issued by the BJP Minority Morcha, J&K, on 9 May states.

Some pictures emerged on social media purportedly showing Shah with BJP leaders. One of the pictures shows J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina purportedly presenting him with a bouquet.

Another one, posted by J&K Congress, showed Talib Shah sharing a dais with Home Minister Amit Shah.

LeT commander Shah is a resident of Rajouri district and was the mastermind of the recent IED blasts in the district, officials said.

BJP Denies Shah Was IT Cell Head, Cong Demands High-Level Probe
BJP spokesperson Abhinav Sharma claimed the captured terrorist, Talib Hussain Shah of Rajouri, visited the party headquarters by posing as a reporter of a news portal under a conspiracy to conduct recce at the behest of his handlers across the border to target the party leadership.

He rejected claims that Shah was minority cell's IT in-charge in J&K and demanded that the security of the BJP office and leaders be strengthened.

"According to our official records, he was neither a primary member nor a basic member, so there is no question of being an active member," Sharma said.
Riaz Haq said…
‘We did our research on those claims and found old Facebook posts of Rajasthan BJP leaders where Riyaz Attari was mentioned as BJP karyakarta,’ Congress leader Pawan Khera.

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/udaipur-killer-mohammad-riyaz-attari-is-a-bjp-member-claims-congress-11656750986723.html

The Centre's decision to transfer the Udaipur homicide inquiry to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has drawn questions from the Congress. Congressman Pawan Khera, in reference to various media reports that suggested a relationship existed between the accused Riyaz Attari and a BJP official, said: "We did our research on those claims and found old Facebook posts of Rajasthan BJP leaders where Riyaz Attari was mentioned as 'BJP karyakarta'."

One of the murderers of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal, whose beheading was captured on camera and made public online, is Mohammad Riyaz Attari. The murder was committed, according to Riyaz Attari and Ghous Muhammad, to avenge an insult to Islam after social media posts by Kanhaiya in favour of Nupur Sharma had been made.

"What could be more evident than this? Riyaz Attari was present at events of BJP leaders. BJP leaders referred to him as 'bhai'. What is happening in this country?" Pawan Khera said.

"Yesterday, the Supreme Court made some serious observations which should be relooked in the light of the fresh revelations in the Udaipur case. Who is Nupur Sharma? Her identity has been established by the party. She made those comments as the spokesperson of the BJP and continued to remain in the post even after 10 days. So if the Supreme Court makes some comments against Nupur Sharma, then those comments are for the BJP," Pawan Khera said.

"When the Centre ordered the NIA probe, we welcomed it. Our chief minister (Ashok Gehlot) assured assistance to the NIA. But now we are raising this question: Did the Centre order the NIA probe hurriedly to hide this information about Riyaz Kattari," Pawan Khera said.
Riaz Haq said…

Prashant.Patel
@PPatel108
Pawan Khera on DSP Davinder Singh who was ferrying Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists,why was DSP allowed to go scot free by LG. India lost 40 soldiers in that (Pulwama) deadly attack.👇

https://twitter.com/PPatel108/status/1544254700576464899?s=20&t=QJQmihuprcqzgk1Pd9F9xA
Riaz Haq said…

Fidato
@tequieremos
Adil Dar who carried out the Pulwama attack was a local boy. He was picked up 6 times by Indian army in last two years. The question arises how can a VBIED with 350 Kg explosives reach the ambush site by going undetected through the LoC and 500,000 Indian forces in J&K.

https://twitter.com/tequieremos/status/1596472059269644289?s=20&t=VvWYL05GgLYIyO8SpKmf4Q
Riaz Haq said…
Prashant Bhushan
@pbhushan1
Chair of the Jury of Goa Film Festival says that the Jury felt that Kashmir Files was a vulgar propaganda film, inappropriate for the film festival

https://twitter.com/pbhushan1/status/1597267078935121920?s=20&t=VvWYL05GgLYIyO8SpKmf4Q
Riaz Haq said…
Video: Indian Film Festival IFFI Jury Head Calls 'Kashmir Files' "Vulgar"
Calling it "propaganda" and a "vulgar movie", Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, who headed the IFFI jury, said "all of them" were "disturbed and shocked" to see the film screened at the festival.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/film-festival-iffi-jury-head-calls-the-kashmir-files-vulgar-propaganda-3560980

New Delhi: The jury of 53rd International Film Festival in Goa has slammed the controversial movie "The Kashmir Files", which revolves around the killings and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 from Kashmir Valley. Calling it "propaganda" and a "vulgar movie", Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, who headed the IFFI jury, said "all of them" were "disturbed and shocked" to see the film screened at the festival.
"It seemed to us like a propagandist movie inappropriate for an artistic, competitive section of such a prestigious film festival. I feel totally comfortable to share openly these feelings here with you on stage. Since the spirit of having a festival is to accept also a critical discussion which is essential for art and for life," Mr Lapid said in his address.

The Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Joshi starrer, directed by Vivek Agnihotri, was featured in the "Panorama" section of the festival last week.


The film has been praised by the BJP and has been declared tax-free in most BJP-ruled states and was a box office hit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah have praised on the movie.

Many, however, have criticised the content, calling it a one-sided portrayal of the events that is sometimes factually incorrect and claiming the movie has a "propagandist tone".

In May, Singapore banned the movie, citing concerns over its "potential to cause enmity between different communities".

"The film will be refused classification for its provocative and one-sided portrayal of Muslims and the depictions of Hindus being persecuted in the ongoing conflict in Kashmir," read a statement from the Singapore government, reported news agency Press Trust of India.

Mr Agnihotri has alleged an "international political campaign" against him and his film by foreign media.

He claimed this was the reason his press conference was cancelled by the Foreign Correspondents Club and the Press Club of India in May.

Riaz Haq said…
The Kashmir Files: Israeli director sparks outrage in India over ‘vulgar movie’ remarks
Nadav Lapid, chair of the International film festival India, spoke out against work that critics say is anti-Muslim propaganda

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/29/the-kashmir-files-israeli-director-sparks-outrage-in-india-over-vulgar-movie-remarks

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the film festival, Lapid said he and other jury members had been “shocked and disturbed” that the film had been given a platform. The Kashmir Files, said Lapid, was “a propaganda, vulgar movie, inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival”.
-------
Lapid, who has taken an anti-establishment stance against rightwing elements in his home of Israel, is not alone in expressing concern over The Kashmir Files. Cinemagoers have started anti-Muslim chants at screenings and it has been accused of stirring up communal violence. In May, Singapore banned the film over its “potential to cause enmity between different communities”.

Vivek Agnihotri, the film’s director, said on Monday that “terror supporters and genocide deniers can never silence me”.

He added: “I challenge all the intellectuals in this world and this great film-maker from Israel to find one frame, one dialogue or an event in The Kashmir Files that is not true.”

-----------
A row has erupted in India after an Israeli director described a controversial film about Kashmir as propaganda and a “vulgar movie”, prompting the Israeli ambassador to issue an apology.

Nadav Lapid, who was chair of this year’s panel of the international film festival of India (IFFI), spoke out against the inclusion of The Kashmir Files at the event.

The film, released in March to popular box office success, is largely set in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when attacks and threats by militants led to most Kashmiri Hindus fleeing from the region, where the majority of the population are Muslim.

Many film critics, Kashmiri Muslims and others, have described it as propaganda that inflames hatred against Muslims and distorts events to suit an anti-Muslim agenda.

However, the film has received a ringing endorsement from the highest levels of the Indian government, ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), who have also been accused of pursuing an anti-Muslim agenda. The prime minister, Narendra Modi, has praised the film, congratulating its makers for having “the guts to portray the truth” and it was the second highest-grossing film in India this year.

------------------

Lapid said his comments were made in the spirit of “critical discussion, which is essential for art and life”, adding he was sure they could be accepted graciously by the festival and audience as such. But his critique caused outrage.

Amit Malviya, a senior BJP leader, compared his remarks to denial of the Holocaust. “For the longest time, people even denied the Holocaust and called Schindler’s List propaganda, just like some are doing to Kashmir Files,” he said.

In Goa, where the festival took place, a complaint was filed to police against Lapid, accusing him of “instigating enmity between groups”.

Fellow jurors at the film festival, which is sponsored by the Indian government, quickly distanced themselves from his comments, stating that they reflected his opinion and not that of the panel. Film-maker Sudipto Sen, who was on the panel, said: “We don’t indulge in any kind of political comments on any film.”

Some of the harshest criticism came from Israel’s ambassador to India, Naor Gilon, who told Lapid he should be “ashamed” of his comments and that it was “insensitive and presumptuous” to speak on a subject that has political and religious ramifications in India. Gilon said he “unequivocally condemned” the statements.
Riaz Haq said…
#India, #Pakistan came close to a #nuclear war, claims ex US Sec of State Mike Pompeo. His Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj called, told him that Pakistan was preparing for a nuclear attack after #Balakot strike in February 2019 & India ready to retaliate

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-pakistan-came-close-to-a-nuclear-war-claims-former-us-secretary-of-state-in-new-book/article66429650.ece


Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has claimed that he was “awakened” to speak to his then Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj who told him that Pakistan was preparing for a nuclear attack after the Balakot surgical strike in February 2019 and India is preparing its own escalatory response.

In his latest book Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love that hit the stores on Tuesday, Mr. Pompeo says the incident took place when he was in Hanoi for the U.S.-North Korea Summit on February 27-28 and his team worked overnight with both New Delhi and Islamabad to avert this crisis.

Riaz Haq said…
Sushma Swaraj "Wasn't Important Player": 5 Top Quotes From Mike Pompeo Book

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/mike-pompeos-book-never-give-an-inch-5-quotes-claiming-us-stopped-india-pak-nuclear-war-3722522

Mike Pompeo's "Never Give an Inch," his memoir of his time as Donald Trump's top diplomat and earlier CIA chief, was published on Tuesday.

Former US President Donald Trump's top diplomat Mike Pompeo, in his just-published memoir, has claimed that India and Pakistan came close to nuclear war in 2019 and that US intervention prevented escalation.
Here are the top five points Mike Pompeo made his new book:
Mr Pompeo claimed he was awakened some time in 2019 to speak to his then Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj who told him that Pakistan was preparing for a nuclear attack in the wake of the Balakot surgical strike and India is preparing its own response.
"I do not think the world properly knows just how close the India-Pakistan rivalry came to spilling over into a nuclear conflagration in February 2019. The truth is, I don't know precisely the answer either; I just know it was too close," Mr Pompeo wrote.
The former US official said he spoke to Ms Swaraj who "believed the Pakistanis had begun to prepare their nuclear weapons for a strike. India, he (sic) informed me, was contemplating its own escalation". "I asked him to do nothing and give us a minute to sort things out... No other nation could have done what we did that night to avoid a horrible outcome," he wrote.
Mr Pompeo said Pakistan "probably enabled" the attack on security forces in Pulwama, which triggered the Balakot strike, said he spoke to "the actual leader of Pakistan," then army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, in an allusion to the weakness of civilian governments.
In comments critical of Sushma Swaraj, Mr Pompeo wrote, "On the Indian side, my original counterpart was not an important player on the Indian foreign policy team. Instead, I worked much more closely with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, a close and trusted confidante of Prime Minister Narendra Modi".
Riaz Haq said…
Fidato
@tequieremos
Adil Dar who carried out the #PulwamaAttack was a local boy. He was picked up 6 times by Indian army within a time frame of two years.

The question arises how can a VBIED with 350 Kg explosives reach the ambush site by going undetected through LoC and 800,000 Indian forces?


https://twitter.com/tequieremos/status/1625379488237322242?s=20&t=O9ZSaFqtoGHjkfvRwvQ7eA


Riaz Haq said…
Pakistanis will never give in to a bully like India.

Pakistan will respond with "Operation Swift Retort" if Modi and his fellow Islamophobes are foolish enough to attack Pakistan again.


Listen to your Indian Professor Ashok Swain who tweeted this today:


Ashok Swain
@ashoswai
Never let a regime fool you in the name of nationalism - If you do it once, you have to keep doing it. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-kashmir-pakistan-airstrike-insi-idUSKCN1QN00V


https://twitter.com/ashoswai/status/1630209788075286528?s=20

--------------

Satellite images show buildings still standing at Indian bombing site

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-kashmir-pakistan-airstrike-insi-idUSKCN1QN00V


Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Project at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, who has 15 years’ experience in analyzing satellite images of weapons sites and systems, confirmed that the high-resolution satellite picture showed the structures in question.

“The high-resolution images don’t show any evidence of bomb damage,” he said. Lewis viewed three other high-resolution Planet Labs pictures of the site taken within hours of the image provided to Reuters.

The Indian government has not publicly disclosed what weapons were used in the strike.

Government sources told Reuters last week that 12 Mirage 2000 jets carrying 1,000 kg (2,200 lbs) bombs carried out the attack. On Tuesday, a defense official said the aircraft used the 2,000-lb Israeli-made SPICE 2000 glide bomb in the strike.

A warhead of that size is meant to destroy hardened targets such as concrete shelters.

Lewis and Dave Schmerler, a senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation studies who also analyses satellite images, said weapons that large would have caused obvious damage to the structures visible in the picture.
Riaz Haq said…
Hindu Mahasabha workers slaughtered cows to cause communal violence, says UP Police - India Today

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/hindu-mahasabha-workers-slaughtered-cows-themselves-to-cause-communal-violence-up-police-2357323-2023-04-08

By Siraj Qureshi: Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday revealed that some members of the Bharat Hindu Mahasabha slaughtered cows themselves to incite communal violence in Agra during the Ram Navami procession.

Agra Police had arrested four youths accused of cow slaughter on the occasion of Ram Navami. The youths were arrested during Ram Navami celebrations in Gautam Nagar of Etmaduddaula area in Agra during a raid.

Regional police told India Today that the names of several office-bearers of the Bharat Hindu Mahasabha have also surfaced in the cow slaughter plot.


According to the information, the name of the Hindu Mahasabha’s national spokesperson, Sanjay Jat, has emerged as the main conspirator. Many workers are also said to be involved in the conspiracy. Jitendra Kushwaha had lodged an FIR about cow slaughter at Etmaduddaula police station.

DCP Suraj Rai said that many facts had come to the fore during the police investigation. Two, named Imran alias Thakur and Shanu named in the FIR were arrested by the police.

Shanu told the police that he reached Mehtab Bagh at 8 pm on March 29 and found Imran, Salman, and Sairo there. They then decided to kill a cow roaming there. That's when Shanu and Imran went and informed Jitendra Kushwaha about this.


Some Hindu Mahasabha workers complained against Jitendra Kushwaha and Sanjay Jat and said they themselves were getting the cow slaughtered to spoil the communal harmony of Agra on Ram Navami.

On the other hand, Sanjay Jat has told India Today that he has been deliberately trapped by the office bearers of the Hindu Mahasabha and the entire episode should be investigated by CBCID. He said that he will complain about these officials to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Riaz Haq said…
Ex-IIOJK governor’s revelations on #Pulwama (#Kashmir) attack vindicate #Pakistan. #Indian PM #Modi wanted to use the attack to blame Pakis­tan for the benefit of his government and the #BJP to win the 2019 elections in #India. #Balakot https://www.dawn.com/news/1747979


https://thewire.in/politics/satya-pal-malik-full-interview-pulwama-modi


The Foreign Office (FO) said on Sunday that the latest revelations made by Satya Pal Malik — the “so-called” former governor of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) — regarding the Pulwama attack in 2019 had “once again vindicated Pakistan’s stance”.

In February 2019, an attack took place on Indian paramilitary troops in IIOJK killing more than 40 soldiers. India accused Pakistan of being behind the attack from the get-go — a charge Islamabad has vehemently denied.

On Friday, in an interview with Indian publication The Wire, Malik — who was governor during the Pulwama atta­ck and the scrapping of Article 370 in August that year — said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hid key facts from the public about the incident.

He told the publication that he immediately realised that Modi wanted to use the attack to blame Pakis­tan for the benefit of his government and the BJP.

Malik said the Indian prime minister was “ill-informed” and “ignorant” about IIOJK, and that he had told Malik not to speak about the home ministry’s lapses, which led to the devastating incident.

He revealed that the attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Pulwama was a result of “incompetence” and “carelessness” by the Indian system, specifically the CRPF and the home min­i­­stry.

Malik also gave details of how the CRPF had asked for aircraft to transport its personnel but was refused by the home ministry.

More importantly, he said all of these lapses were raised by him directly when Modi called him from outside Corbett Park, shortly after the Pulwama attack. He said the prime minister told him to keep quiet about this and not tell anyone.

Malik also said that National Security Adviser Ajit Doval also told him to keep quiet and not talk about it. Malik said he immediately realised that the intention was to put the blame on Pakistan and derive electoral benefit for the government and BJP.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the FO said that Malik’s disclosures demonstrated how the “Indian leadership has habitually used the bogey of terrorism from Pakistan to advance its sham victimhood narrative and the Hindutva agenda, clearly for domestic political gains”.

“We hope that the international community would take cognisance of the latest revelations and see through India’s propaganda campaign against Pakistan driven by selfish political considerations and based on lies and deceit,” it said.

The FO stressed that India must answer the questions raised in the latest revelations. “It is time India be held accountable for the actions that imperiled regional peace in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack”.

The statement added that Pakistan would continue to counter India’s “false narrative” and act firmly and responsibly in the face of different provocations.

Pulwama attack and Operation Swift Retort
The attack in Pulwama on Feb 14, 2019, surpassing one in 2016 when 19 soldiers died, saw explosives packed inside a van rip through buses in a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying some 2,500 members of the paramilitary CRPF.

Two blue buses carrying around 35 people each bore the brunt of the explosion around 20 kilometres from the main city of Srinagar on the main highway towards Jammu.

The next day, Modi said his country would give a “strong response” to the Pulwama attack. The “blood of the people is boiling” and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely be punished, he was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

Modi didn’t name Pakistan but went on to say: “If our neighbour, which is totally isolated in the world and thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics and conspiracies, then it is making a huge mistake”.

Riaz Haq said…
Transcript of ex Governor StayaPal Malik (SM) with Karan Thapar (KT) on Pulwama:


https://thewire.in/politics/satya-pal-malik-full-interview-pulwama-modi

SM: I told him that it was our fault.

KT: And he asked you to keep quiet on the subject?

SM: I had also said it to someone, a channel or so, and then he told me to not say these things and let him talk.

KT: This is again very important. When you had told the Prime Minister that this has happened because of us, that they had asked for the aircraft and Home Ministry did not give them, and the Prime Minister asked you to keep quiet. He said don’t let people know we made a mistake.

SM: Doval also said this to me.

KT: Who?

SM: Doval, Ajit Doval.

KT: He also told you to keep quiet?


KT: So what you’re saying, is both the Prime Minister—

SM: I can share with you, that I realised that this entire onus is going to be put on Pakistan so it’s better to be quiet on the subject now.

KT: So this was in some way, a clever policy of the government that blame Pakistan—

SM: Exactly.

KT: And we will get credit, and that will help our election.

SM: Exactly.

KT: But you said two very important things that the prime minister knew that you had told him it was our fault?

SM: I distinctly remember. He was in Corbett National Park, getting his shooting done. There isn’t a phone there, so after getting out of there, he called me from a dhaba, Satyapal, what happened? I told him sir I am very unhappy that this happened solely due to our fault if we had given them an aircraft it wouldn’t have happened. He told me to keep quiet about it then.

KT: And Mr Doval said the same?

SM: Yes.

KT: In an interview to a YouTube channel [given to Prashant Tandon of DB Live], you said that the route was not sanitised, security was not—

SM: Of course it was not sanitised. The route has 8-10 link roads specifically in that area, not one of them was manned by someone to restrict access to people. Nothing was done.

KT: All link roads were unmanned?

SM: Unmanned.

KT: How many link roads?


SM: Around 8-10.

KT: 8-10 link roads were unmanned? This is a huge security lax.

SM: This also I told them. This was our lax. We were not in the loop, CRPF was planning everything.

KT: In you YouTube interview, you said that there was incompetence and carelessness. Whose?

SM: The Home Ministry’s and the CRPF.

KT: Both? And Home Ministry came under Rajnath Singh.

SM: Now whosoever was there, I don’t know.

KT: He was Rajnath Singh and that means the buck stops with Rajnath Singh who was home minister. He was the one to blame.
Riaz Haq said…
The Settler-Colonialist Alliance of India and Israel
Over the decades, the two nation’s have become closer allies in business and politics. We talked to journalist Azad Essa the origins of this international relationship.
By Deeksha Udupa



https://www.thenation.com/article/world/qa-india-israel-azad-essa/


In 1962, after a series of border conflicts over the disputed territory of Aksai Chin—which both China and India claimed, and still continue to claim, as their own—the two countries fought a one-month war. India’s troops in Namka Chu Valley were considerably weaker and the state of Israel quickly responded to India’s request for assistance. Then–Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion wrote to his Indian counterpart, Jawaharlal Nehru, emphasizing his country’s “fullest sympathy and understanding” and offering to provide weapons to Indian forces. Nehru requested that the weapons be sent in unmarked ships, aware that accepting Israeli assistance could affect India’s relations with Arab nations. Ben-Gurion declined and said, “No flag. No weapons.” Eventually, India relented and accepted arms transported in ships with the Israeli flag. And though India lost the conflict, the country was now aware that in times of need, Israel could be counted on as a potential ally.

The two countries have only grown closer since then, as their military and business interests have aligned. Just this year, for example, Indian tycoon Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, recently acquired the Israeli port of Haifa, where 50 percent of Israeli cargo is handled. Privatizing the port has been a topic of conversation since the early 2000s and was finally completed when Adani submitted his bid, which was supported by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Just days after the acquisition, however, Hindenburg Research released a report accusing the Adani Group of financial malpractice, fraudulent transactions, and share-price manipulation. Modi and Netanyahu spoke days after the release of the report, and Modi emphasized the importance of “the multifaceted India-Israel friendship.” The purchase of the port launched a new chapter of the Israel-India alliance, with some commentators referring to it as the largest deal between the two nations in the private sector.



AZAD ESSA (Author of Hostile Homelands: The New Alliance Between India and Israel): Being from South Africa and growing up towards the end of apartheid, I was enamored by the concept of international solidarity through boycotts and the very idea that people around the world were thinking about us.

And since I am of Indian origin (with the caveat that there was no India, as we now know it, when my grandparents had come to South Africa), I was told stories about how India had been instrumental in standing up to apartheid government. Later, as a graduate student, I was introduced to the story of Kashmir, and I was struck by how a country that positioned itself as anti-colonial, anti-apartheid, and a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement could also have a colonial project of its own. I subsequently went to Kashmir and was shocked by the militarization. I also traveled to Palestine and immediately felt the connections between the two.

Then Narendra Modi came to power in 2014—and when he did, the floodgates opened. Just like when Donald Trump came to power, it was as if the US had been unmasked; likewise, the Indian and Israeli relationship, too, was unmasked under Modi, and they soon became even closer strategic partners. When the Indian consul general spoke in 2019 about replicating Israeli-style settlements in Kashmir, I was convinced that this was a project I wanted to pursue. This is a book, then, about how oppressors work together.

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