Opinion | Pakistan must be ready to face consequences for its misadventures
I want to wholeheartedly praise our intelligence agencies for this spectacular success in averting a major attack. While hunting for the failed suicide bomber, our security agencies must also find out who are the moles inside our establishment who pass on crucial information about the movement of our security forces.
At a time when the entire world is desperately fighting the Coronavirus pandemic and its serious economic consequences, Pakistan is back at its old game of plotting mayhem inside India. The Pakistani army is trying to provoke India by carrying out misadventures like the one that happened in Pulwama on Thursday.
A white Santro car fitted with 50 kg explosives was being driven by a suicide bomber towards the highway to target a convoy of CRPF troops. It was typically Pulwama attack 2.0.
The car was intercepted at a checkpoint on Wednesday night, but the suicide bomber did not halt, and crossed two checkpoints, leading to security personnel opening fire. The attacker fled into a nearby forest leaving the car behind at Ayangund near Rajpora, Pulwama.
Later, the car was destroyed by security forces in a controlled explosion. The vehicle was blown up nearly 60 feet high and the explosion was heard several kilometres away. A huge crater was formed at the site where the detonation was carried out.
State police IG Vijay Kumar said, the car was filled with ammonium nitrate and RDX, and the mastermind was a Jaish terrorist from Pakistan, Jameel Padshah, who has been active in the Valley for the last five years.
This suicide car bomb attack bid was similar to the one that killed 40 CRPF men in Pulwama on February 14 last year and led to Indian Air Force jets bombing a Lashkar camp at Balakot inside Pakistan in retaliation.
Thursday's attack was averted by a joint team of state police, CRPF and army, which acted on specific intelligence inputs and intercepted the car.
It is a curious coincidence that eight days ago, on May 21, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had tweeted that India may carry out "false flag operation" against Pakistan. At a time when Imran Khan was posting his tweet, our Indian security intelligence personnel were busy in search of this bomb-laden car.
The specific intelligence input, based on phone intercepts of calls made from Pakistan, was that a car filled with explosive will leave for Pulwama at night to carry out a suicide bombing. Policemen went through lists of all lost and sold cars in the state and zeroed in on this car with number plate JK 08B 1426.
Police believe the foiled attempt was a joint operation by Jaish, Lashkar and Hizbul Mujahideen. The main conspirator is, of course, Pakistan which is guiding these terror outfits to carry out mayhem in the Valley.
The plot was to keep the explosive-laden car ready near the highway and then ram it into a convoy of 20 CRPF vehicles carrying 400 troops, which was scheduled to leave its camp at Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar for return to Jammu on Thursday morning.
Security sources said that the fitting of IED explosives in the car could have been done only by Wahid Bhai, who is known in terrorist circles as an IED expert. It was he who had fitted the IED in the car used in the Pulwama attack last year. Wahid Bhai recently escaped during an encounter, in which two terrorists were killed.
There can be no doubt that it was the Pakistani army that had planned this foiled suicide bombing bid. The Pakistani army establishment used its puppet Prime Minister Imran Khan to post the tweet eight days ago in which he expressed fear that India may attack Pakistan after a 'false flag operation' in Kashmir.
On May 21, Imran Khan tweeted:" I am reiterating again that a false flag operation is imminent from India in order to divert world attention away from its ongoing genocide in IOJK."
Imran Khan and the Pakistani army had made similar tweets in the past too, expressing fear that India may carry out "false flag operation". The Pakistani PM clearly knew that another rerun of Pulwama attack was going to open, and he was preparing grounds for an excuse in case the attack went off successfully.
Imran Khan's plans were foiled by our security intelligence agencies who got specific inputs about this terror attack.
I want to wholeheartedly praise our intelligence agencies for this spectacular success in averting a major attack. While hunting for the failed suicide bomber, our security agencies must also find out who are the moles inside our establishment who pass on crucial information about the movement of our security forces.
The question is: what was the aim behind Pakistan's nefarious plan? The whole world knows that the Pakistani army and its notorious ISI is helping terrorists in Kashmir, but it is the first time that the Pakistani Prime Minister was in the know of things, otherwise, he would not have tweeted about any terror attack that was to happen eight days later.
With India fighting the Coronavirus pandemic and our security and diplomatic agencies busy engaging with China over the standoff in Ladakh, Pakistani strategists thought that this was the most opportune time to carry out a spectacular terror attack that would give sleepless nights to India. The Pakistani planners had thought that India would avoid opening two fronts simultaneously, one against China and the other against Pakistan, and wanted to cash in on this moment.
Both Pakistan and China however forgot one thing. They did not factor in the fact that it was India led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had the capability to repay them in their own coin. Modi did it so, last year, during the spectacular Balakot airstrike which made Pakistan run for cover.
On Wednesday, Imran Khan had tweeted that the Indian army could carry out attacks on Pak Occupied Kashmir. Well, if Pakistan continues to plot and perpetrate heinous terror attacks, it must be prepared to face the consequences. There must not be an iota of doubt about that.
Watch Full Episode
Aaj Ki Baat: Monday to Friday, 9 PM
India’s Number One and the most followed Super Prime Time News Show ‘Aaj Ki Baat – Rajat Sharma Ke Saath’ was launched just before the 2014 General Elections. Since its inception, the show is redefining India’s super-prime time and is numerically far ahead of its contemporary.