India’s Congress party President Mallikarjun Kharge has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had “misled the nation”, amid a furore about the now-acknowledged aircraft losses to Pakistan during the recent conflict.
The remarks come a day after India’s top general confirmed that his country’s fighter jets were downed by Pakistan but did not specify a number. That admission followed a statement by Subrahmanyam Swamy, a member of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but a staunch critic of the Indian premier, that Pakistan had downed five Indian planes.
“The Modi govt has misled the nation. The fog of war is now clearing,” Kharge wrote in a post on X.
He said that in the wake of the remarks made by India’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan in Singapore during an interview, there were some very important questions which needed to be asked.
“These can only be asked if a Special Session of the Parliament is immediately convened,” he said.
“The Congress party demands a comprehensive review of defence preparedness by an independent expert committee, on the lines of the Kargil review committee,” he added.
Congress leader and Telangana Minister Uttam Reddy separately demanded transparency from the Indian government to reveal the extent of losses, Deccan Herald reported.
“The fact that the fighter aircraft were downed is something that the government needs to stop denying. The CDS himself mentioned that. “Earlier Air Marshal Bharti had mentioned it indirectly in his briefing along with the DGMO,” Reddy, himself a former air force pilot, was quoted as having said.
Indian fighter jets were shot down by the Pakistan Air Force on the night of May 6-7 in response to the Indian Air Force’s late-night missile strikes at six Pakistani sites, including Subhan Mosque in Bahawalpur’s Ahmedpur East, Bilal Mosque in Muzaffarabad, Abbas Mosque in Kotli, Umalkura Mosque in Muridke, the village of Kotki Lohara in Sialkot district, and Shakargarh.
Pakistan took down six Indian jets, including three advanced French Rafale planes. According to a media.com report, the recent clash between India and Pakistan marks a significant development in the regional air power constellation. Three Rafales, one Su-30MKI, one Mirage 2000 and one MiG-29 were downed within a 40-minute span. Not one Pakistani jet crossed the border or engaged in close combat.
After intercepting drones sent by India on May 8 and tit-for-tat strikes on each other’s airbases on the night of May 9-10, it took American intervention on May 10 for both sides to finally reach a ceasefire.
The US-brokered ceasefire had brought a halt to a week of record escalation between Pakistan and India as the latter took a series of unprovoked military actions despite Islamabad’s call for a neutral probe into India’s allegations over the Pahalgam attack.
BJP lawmaker criticises Indian Air Force
BJP legislator Ranbir Pathania questioned the role of Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel at the Udhampur base in Indian-occupied Kashmir during Operation Sindoor, allegedly used derogatory words against them, Indian outlet The Telegraph reported.
The BJP defended the legislator, saying his statement has been twisted, while Congress has asked the party to apologise. Pathania also issued a video statement, denying the use of foul language against the force.
In a video uploaded by Congress, Pathania appears to be ridiculing the IAF at Udhampur for its performance during Operation Sindoor. “Everybody knows what happened at the air force station, it was their incompetence; they were sleeping. What is our fault? We have held them in very high esteem,” a man purportedly Pathania can be heard saying.
The BJP leader denied abusing soldiers, saying he is proud of the army and his video had been edited. However, he defended his stand against the IAF’s land acquisition in the area.
The Congress said the statement was shameful and reprehensible, saying it was “an insult to our army and our brave soldiers.”
It added, “The BJP should apologise to the entire country and the army on this matter and should dismiss Ranbir Pathania from his post. If the BJP does not take any action against its MLA, then it will be considered as the thinking and statement of Narendra Modi and the BJP.”
Pathania on Wednesday joined a protest in a village in Udhampur, where he accused the IAF and the local administration of violating the legal rights of landowners by taking over their land without paying any compensation. He said notices had been issued to locals asking them to vacate the land.
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