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A non-partisan, academic web channel, bringing you analysis on economy, history, culture, entertainment, sports and beyond, from a #SouthAsian lens.

Apr 17, 2023, 11 tweets

#SAT Analysis

The #PulwamaAttack of 2019 that killed 40 CRPF personnel in Indian-held Kashmir served as a trigger to bring India & Pakistan on a nuclear threshold.

But were India’s blames rightly put?

A 🧵

How the BJP government averted from intelligence oversight & focused instead on winning the electoral margin following the #PulwamaAttack is the hot talk in India right now.

2/11

An “explosive” interview of BJP’s former governor of #Kashmir, #SatyapalMalik, has sparked a debate.

3/11

Failure to provide aircraft to the convoy, letting it pass by road through the vulnerable Samba area, avoiding intelligence inputs; #SatyapalMalik's revelations have also been confirmed by former #armychief, Gen Shankar Roychodhury, in an interview with Telegraph India.

4/11

What was there to gain from putting the convoy on death front becomes apparent if it is recalled that 🇮🇳was set to hold elections in April, May that year.

BJP projected #Pulwama as an attack from 🇵🇰 & launched ambiguous #Balakot strikes while exaggerating losses incurred.

5/11

The media optics kept portraying a war-like situation where no one but Prime Minister Modi could save & protect India against Pakistan - a paranoia that lurks deep in India’s political fabric.

6/11

But #SatyapalMalik's interview with 'The Wire' details a flip side.

It tells how security of convoy was not ensured & when he spoke of intelligence failure following attack, he was asked to stay silent by Modi as well as NSA Ajit Doval.

7/11

A year-long investigation by Frontline has gathered & analyzed 11 intelligence inputs between Jan 2 and Feb 13 of 2019, that warned of the attack.

Despite this, the request for aircraft was denied by the Home Ministry, led by Rajnat Singh.

8/11

Interestingly, soon after #Pulwama, when Congress leader Digvijaya Singh shared an “intelligence warning note” on his Twitter, retweeting that tweet was immediately blocked & hence the information censored.

9/11

Now 4 years after, coming from a person who has served as BJP’s governor in Goa & Bihar as well, the intelligence blunder & staging #Pulwama for electoral victory hold good credence.

10/11

Twitter chatter in India is concerned over mainstream media not picking up Satya Pal Malik’s interview.

Some have even expressed suspicion over #AtiqueAhmed's murder & its live coverage on media as a way of diverting attention.

11/11
End

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