The Rajasthan government has introduced the Balakot airstrikes as a topic in Class 9 social science textbooks which will be used by students in the upcoming academic session, The Times of India reported on Thursday, 16 May.
The Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education has included the text in the chapter titled 'Rashtriya suraksha evum shaurya parampara' (National security and tradition of valour), the report said, adding that the content highlights the role of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman in the airstrikes carried out by the IAF on a Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack in February this year.
According to the report, the text in the chapter mentions that “After an attack on defence forces by terrorists in Pulwama, the IAF on 26 February 2019, with 12 Mirage-2000 fighter jets, attacked terrorist camps in Balakot. The next day, an F-16 Pakistan fighter jet violated Indian air space and attempted to attack (military establishments).”
A part of the text also talks about Abhinandan’s role in the entire operation.
“IAF directed its “braveheart” Wing Commander Abhinandan, who flew a MiG-21, to respond. He displayed his excellence by shooting down a plane which was better than the jet he was flying,” the text reads.
On 27 February 2019, Wing Commander Abhinandan’s MiG 21 was shot down over Pakistani territory while intercepting their aircraft which had entered Indian territory.
The IAF claims that the Wing Commander brought down a Pakistani F-16 before going down, with Pakistan denying any such transgression.
(With inputs from The Times of India)
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