Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik’s remarks on the 2019 Pulwama terror attack “vindicated” Pakistan's stance that New Delhi used "lies and deceit" for its propaganda against the country.
"His disclosures demonstrate 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," the ministry said in a statement.
In his interview with Karan Thapar to The Wire, wherein Malik delved into the details of the Pulwama tragedy, he agreed that Pakistan was made a scapegoat by the Indian government.
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“The CRPF had sought permission from the Home Ministry for five aircraft to ferry the army convoy. However, the Home Ministry refused to provide the same,” he said. He also highlighted multiple security lapses on the route of the convoy which had eight to ten link roads but was unmanned and not sanitized during the convoy’s passage.
Malik also claimed that Modi had told him to keep quiet when he raised the lapses in security in their first phone conversation after the Pulwama attack.
"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 Pulwama attack," Pakistan said adding that they will continue to counter "India’s false narrative".
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"We hope that the international community would take cognizance of the latest revelations and see through India’s propaganda campaign against Pakistan driven by selfish political considerations and based on lies and deceit," they further said.
However, Malik had also made a statement naming Pakistan as the source of the RDX explosives for the car bomb that killed 40 CRPF personnel. "The amount of explosives provided to that fellow could not be done internally. It was Pakistan, only, that arranged it. But the failure was on our part, mine too, that we could not locate that a car in that area was roaming around carrying so much explosive material," he said according to the transcript of the interview.
The statement by the foreign affairs ministry did not refer to this claim.
Meanwhile, the opposition too has been lashing out at the centre with Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh accusing the BJP-led Union government of "minimum governance and maximum silence".
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel too said the BJP-led Central government must respond to claims made by the former Jammu and Kashmir governor.
