Nearly two years after the Indian Army announced that it carried out surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) on terror launch pads in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), video footage of the operation was broadcast by several news channels on Wednesday, 27 June.
The videos from the intervening night of 28-29 September 2016 show heavy destruction to the terrorists’ bunkers. The TV channels have claimed that the anti-terror ops were recorded on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Thermal Imaging (TI) cameras.
Former Northern Army Commander Lt General DS Hooda (retd), who was in-charge of the surgical strikes, confirmed to The Indian Express that 'the video is real'.
On 29 September, former DGMO (Director General of Military Operations) Lt General Ranbir Singh announced in a press conference that the Army had carried out surgical strikes across the LoC on the night of 28-29 September inflicting “significant casualties” on terrorists.
Following the release of the footage, several BJP leaders were quick to target the opposition.
Meanwhile, several journalists and opposition leaders raised doubts about the timing of the footage’s release.
BJP Cannot Use Army’s Sacrifice to Garner Votes: Congress
A day after the footage of surgical strike was released, on 28 June, the Congress claimed that the ruling BJP was using the sacrifice of soldiers to garner votes.
“The Modi government is exploiting the slogan of ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’. Former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee never used the Army’s valour to garner votes,” said Randeep Surjewala, Congress spokesperson.
At Congress’ press conference, Surjewala said that the Indian Army has been making sacrifices for decades.
The ruling party will have to remember that they cannot turn the sacrifice of the Indian Army into a political tool to garner votes.Randeep Surjewala
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