File photo. Aamir Qureshi—AFP
Pakistan’s prime minister urges international community to stop India from continuing its militarist agenda before it pushes region into uncontrollable conflict
The purported transcript of communication between an Indian journalist and the incarcerated head of a TV ratings firm has once again revealed the “unholy nexus” between Narendra Modi’s government and the Indian media, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday.
In a series of tweets, he stressed that he had long been warning of how the Indian government attempted to use conflict with Pakistan as a means to secure electoral victory. “In 2019, I spoke at the U.N. General Assembly on how India’s fascist Modi government used the Balakot crisis for domestic electoral gains,” he said. “Latest revelations from communication of an Indian journalist, known for his warmongering, reveal the unholy nexus between the Modi government and Indian media that led to a dangerous military adventurism to win an election in utter disregard for the consequences of destabilizing the entire region,” he added.
Khan noted that Pakistan’s “responsible, measured response” had averted a major crisis, but that had not halted Modi’s attempts to turn India into a “rogue” state. “Indian sponsorship of terrorism in Pakistan, its abuses in Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and a 15-year Indian global disinformation campaign against us all stand exposed,” he said. “Now India’s own media has revealed the dirty nexus that is pushing our nuclearized region to the brink of conflict it cannot afford,” he added.
The prime minister concluded his twitter thread by reiterating that his government would continue to expose Indian designs against Pakistan, as well as the Modi government’s fascism. “International community must stop India from its reckless, militarist agenda before the Modi government’s brinkmanship pushes our region into a conflict it cannot control,” he added.
Khan’s statement follows a similarly strong-worded rejoinder issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the leaked WhatsApp transcript. Noting that the world had already been “irrefutable” evidence of India funding and fomenting terrorism in Pakistan, it said that the transcript had “further exposed India’s sinister designs and vindicated Pakistan’s long held position.”
Stressing that the latest revelation merely validated Pakistan’s consistent position, the Foreign Office reiterated that the BJP-led government staged “false flag” operations, maligned Pakistan with terror-related allegations; stoked hyper-nationalism; and used so-called “surgical strikes” to manipulate national sentiment. “The pattern is unmistakable, and has been repeated to suit the RSS-BJP regime’s electoral calculations,” it said.
“We had, at the outset, rejected India’s malicious propaganda against Pakistan and highlighted that the biggest beneficiary of the Pulwama attack in February 2019 was the BJP government, as it secured landslide victory in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. The transcripts provide further evidence of how this whole enterprise from ‘false flag’ operation to massive electoral success was scripted and fully realized,” it said, and pointed out that the incident illustrated how “far and deeply” the RSS-BJP’s extremist agenda had “permeated India’s institutions and pillars of the state” as well as how the manipulation was jeopardizing the rights and freedoms of Indian citizens and democratic values in Indian society.
Transcript revelations
According to the transcripts of purported chats between Indian television anchor Arnab Goswami and the incarcerated head of ratings company Broadcast Audience Research Council Pratho Dasgupta, published by Indian media, the firebrand Republic TV chief editor was aware of the Modi government’s plan to carry out a strike in Balakot well in advance.
The transcripts were made public as part of a wider Indian police investigation into the Television Rating Point scam that began in October last year after TV channels in the western state of Maharashtra were accused of rigging the ratings system. According to excerpts, Goswami texted Dasgupta on Feb. 23, 2019—three days before Indian Air Force jets flew into Pakistani airspace—saying, “something big” was about to happen.
In response, Dasgupta asked if Goswami was referring to Dawood Ibrahim, a gangster wanted in several cases. The relevant portions of the ensuing conversation follow:
Goswami: “No sir Pakistan. Something major will be done this time.”
Dasgupta: “Good.”
“It’s good for big man in this season.”
“He will sweep polls then.”
“Strike? Or bigger”
Goswami: “Bigger than a normal strike. And also on the same time something major on Kashmir. On Pakistan the government is confident of striking in a way that people will be elated. Exact words used.”