Satya Pal Malik’s claims on Pulwama attack vindicates us, says Pakistan

The former Jammu and Kashmir governor has claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him not to speak about alleged lapses that led to the terror attack.

Apr 17, 2023 - 13:30

Satya Pal Malik’s claims on Pulwama attack vindicates us, says Pakistan

Pakistan on Sunday said that former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik’s recent claims about the Pulwama attack have vindicated its stand that New Delhi used “lies and deceit” for its propaganda against Islamabad.

On February 14, 2019, an explosive-laden car driven by a suicide bomber rammed into a bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force personnel, killing 40 of them in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility for the attack.

On Friday, Malik told The Wire in an interview that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him not to speak about lapses that led to the terror attack. Malik claimed that the attack took place due to the incompetence and negligence of the Central Reserve Police Force and the Union home ministry, which was then headed by Rajnath Singh.

In a statement on Sunday, Pakistan’s foreign ministry demanded that India should respond to the questions raised by Malik’s claims and be held “accountable for the actions that imperiled regional peace” after the Pulwama attack.

“His [Malik] disclosures demonstrate how the Indian leadership has habitually used the bogey of terrorism from Pakistan to advance its sham victimhood narrative and the Hindutva agenda, clearly for domestic political gains,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.