Former J&K Governor and senior BJP leader Satya Pal Malik has spilled the beans by claiming that he had apprised PM Modi of the alleged security lapses after the Pulwama attack in 2019 but was asked to ‘keep quiet’. Malik went on to claim the Pulwama episode was a result of India’s Home Ministry ‘incompetence’ as the CRPF had requisitioned for an aircraft ahead of the incident but the request was denied by the Home Ministry. It may be recalled the crisis was sparked on February 14, 2019 after a deadly militant attack on an Indian convoy in Pulwama. India’s warplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp at Balakot in Pakistan in response to the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF jawans. In fact, the publicity stunt of Balakot air strike added a feather in BJP’s cap before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP may have sought to use the Pulwama attack to their electoral advantage and succeeded to an extent, but the fact is that Delhi’s reckless actions had set both Pakistan and India on course to war.
