Explained: Times when Pulwama terror attack became a flashpoint in Indian politics

Pulwama terror attack and Balakot airstrikes have also been a point of contestation between political parties, both in India and its neighbour Pakistan. Though the majority of the people see Pulwama as a terror attack and the Balakot airstrike as a responsive measure to this attack, there are still a handful of voices that have conflicting views on both. Due to these views, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack always found itself in a political quagmire. 

In the latest political contention, the former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Satya Pal Malik allegedly claimed that the Indian government had the option of airlifting CRPF soldiers instead of sending them across the Jammu-Srinagar highway in a convoy. 

In February 2019, 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. 

Malik further claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly asked him to keep quiet after Malik told him that the Pulwama terror attack happened because the Centre did not provide aircraft to transport CRPF soldiers, despite receiving intelligence inputs about such a threat. 

Ongoing political spectacle over Pulwama attack 

Malik, who was the J&K Governor during the Pulwama terror attack and the withdrawal of special status granted under Article 370, made several explosive comments as part of an hour-long interview with journalist Karan Thapar for The Wire in which he described PM Narendra Modi as “ill-informed” about J&K.

Soon after this interview, a political circus got into play, with some politicians calling Malik’s claims an “explosive truth”. 

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh accused the BJP-led Union government of "minimum governance and maximum silence" and asked for its response to the allegations made by Satypal Malik. 

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"It is the government's responsibility to answer," he said, adding that Congress will continue to ask questions that concern national security.

There has been no reaction from the government since Malik's interview with the news portal was released, while the BJP has said that there were serious questions about his credibility and cited various statements made by him in recent years.

Pakistan now blames India for Pulwama

Pakistan was quick to react to Malik’s interview and was swift enough to manoeuvre the narrative according to India’s domestic politics over the issue. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a statement on Sunday, and tried to assert that the Indian government “exploited the situation” after the Pulwama attack for “political gains”. 

The Pakistani news outlet PTV World shared the snippet from Malik’s interview on its official Twitter handle and wrote, “India’s Pulwama drama further exposed”.

Pakistan is trying this old tactic of taking advantage of the situation, years after one of its ministers on the floor of the house claimed the credit for the Pulwama attack. Pakistan’s former Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Fawad Chaudhry, admitted Islamabad’s role in the Pulwama attack. 

“We hit India in their home. Our success in Pulwama is a success of this nation under the leadership of Imran Khan. You and us are all part of that success”, he said during a 2020 debate at National Assembly. 

UNSC blamed Pakistan-based terror outfit for Pulwama

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) issued a statement in 2019 condemning the Pulwama terror attack and blaming the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the Pakista-based terror outfit after it took the responsibility for the attack. 

“The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly suicide bombing in Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in over 40 Indian paramilitary forces dead and dozens wounded on February 14, 2019, for which Jaish-e-Mohammed [JeM] has claimed responsibility,” the statement said.

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Pakistan turned defensive on this and the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said in an interview that JeM “did not claim responsibility [for the attack]”, and that there is confusion over such claims. This was despite JeM releasing a statement on their official website in which they brazenly took the responsibility for the attack. 

Clearly, Pakistan tried its best to cover up its role in the attack. 

When government slammed the opposition over Pulwama 

In March 2019, a month after the attack, the Modi government stepped up the attack on opposition parties and called them a “natural habitat of terror apologists and questioners of our armed forces”. 

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“Opposition insults our forces time and again. I appeal to my fellow Indians. Question opposition leaders on their statements. Tell them that 130 crore Indians will not forgive or forget the opposition for their antics. India stands firmly with our forces," Modi said in response to Congress member Sam Pitroda’s comment.

Since the attack there have been many heated arguments between the ruling and opposition parties, making a terror attack, a subject of political bickering. And yet again, after four years, Pulwama remains more than just an act of terrorism. 

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