Amid controversy over the purported WhatsApp chats of Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, which made references to the February 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the Balakot airstrikes, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, 19 January, said that giving official secret information to a journalist is a ‘criminal act.’
"The distressing thing for me was that when 40 of our jawans died, someone said 'this is going to be very good for us'. I do not like this language. This is an anti-national act... It's a criminal action, giving official secret information to a journalist. I want to know whether it was the PM of India, home minister, defence minister or NSA who told Goswami... These people call themselves patriots. But there is nothing patriotic about putting our Air Force at risk," Gandhi was quoted at saying a press briefing, after releasing a booklet on the three contentious farm laws.