Cryptic statements made by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday at an event left many wondering whether India had carried out another army operation against Pakistan in the recent past. The comments came as the government is celebrating the second anniversary of the surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control.
At an event in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar, Rajnath Singh said, "Kuchh hua hai, main bataunga nahin. Theek thaak hua hai. Vishwas rakhna theek thaak hua hai do teen din pehle. Aur aage bhi dekhiyega kya hoga. (Something has happened. I won't reveal it now. Something big has happened. Trust me, something really big has happened two-three days ago. And, you will also see what happens in future.)"
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He said, "I have told the Border Security Force, they are our neighbours, don't fire the first bullet. But if they fire the first one, don't count how many you fire back".
Speculation is that the attack was a revenge action for the brutal killing of BSF trooper Narendra Singh on the International Border in Samba district. Media reports quoting BSF confirmed that Pakistan suffered significant casualities in the heavy retaliatory shelling.
Narendra Singh was killed when he had gone to cut wild grass along the IB fence in Ramgarh sector on September 18. He and his colleagues came under unprovoked firing by the Pakistan troops. When his body was recovered a day later—it was dragged into the Pakistan side—there were three bullet wounds and his throat was slit.
In reaction to this attack, Army General Bipin Rawat had said it was time for another surgical strike. "I believe there is a need for one more action (surgical strike). But I would not want to disclose how we want to do it," he had told a media organisation in an interview.
Despite calls for ceasefire, infiltration from across the LoC persisted, Rawat said. He said, action should be taken to deter terrorists from disrupting peace in Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, former Nagrota Corps commander, Lieutenant General Rajendra Nimbhorkar said that Pakistan would never accept the reality that Indian Army successfully destroyed terror launch pads set up on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir two years back. He said that India was capable of another such attack if required.
Lt General Nimbhorkar further said that, if required, the Indian Army would once again carry out the same exercise in the near future. "If our Army Chief says that we need to launch another strike in the area as Pakistan is sheltering terrorists, we are ready for it," he said. "If one looks closely, after we conducted a surgical strike in PoK, no international community spoke against us. This clearly shows that India was not wrong and also paved way for us to carry out the similar operation in the future," he added.
The Central government has organised a three-day Army exhibition, Parakram Parv, to mark the second anniversary of surgical strikes, which were carried out against terror camps across the Line of Control in PoK.
-with inputs from ANI
