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?
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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.
The UN is set to hold an #Afghanistan Envoys meeting with the Secretary-General, shortly.
This will be a one-of-its-kind conference since the takeover of #Kabul in 2021. Recognition of the #Taliban will be on agenda.
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2⃣ The announcement came from UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, while she was speaking at Princeton’s School of Public & International Affairs.
Though exact date was not mentioned, but Zalmay Khalilzad wrote on his Twitter that meeting will convene on May 1 in #Doha.
3⃣ Amina Mohammed, in her talk, also mentioned another conference of high value being planned.
It will be hosted by Saudi Arabia & convened by the #OIC. The discussion will be on Women in #Islam.
1⃣ The former capital of Mewar Kingdom is known for its Lakes & Palaces. But not many know Udaipur for the Bronze Age souvenirs it still keeps.
One such guardian of history & Kingdom is the Ahar Cenotaph Complex, known to be the largest among medieval cenotaphs.
2⃣ Standing at one end, the cenotaphs seem to be stretching as far as the eye can see. Walking through, the shadow of Mewar Kings overlooks the race of time.
A semblance of Mughal Era domes, the cenotaphs are not exactly rounded but bear similarity to a pumpkin placed atop.
3⃣ There are some more than 250 cenotaphs over an area of 3.02 hectares. These are believed to have been built 350 years ago.
Clustered together, the cenotaphs served as the royal cremation ground for Mewar Kings, Queens, Maharajas & other people of importance in the Kingdom.
#OTD in 1940, the All-India Muslim League adopted the Lahore Resolution—which later came to be known as the Pakistan Resolution—during its three-day general session, which was held in #Lahore from March 22–24.
1/10
A. K. Fazlul Huq, the Prime Minister of #Bengal, presented the resolution, which was authored and compiled by Muhammad Zafarullah Khan and served as a formal statement of the party's vision for the future of Muslim #India.
2/10
The document famously stated that "...the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in the North Western and Eastern Zones of India should be grouped to constitute ‘independent states’ in which the constituent units should be autonomous and sovereign."
#OTD every year, #WorldWaterDay is observed to raise awareness of the value of fresh water. It aims to promote the sustainable management of freshwater resources, consistent with the targets of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.
1/15
#SDG 6 focuses on making sure that everyone has access to clean water and proper sanitation. The #UN General Assembly set 17 SDGs in 2015, including this one.
To meet this goal, 8 targets must be completed by 2030, using 11 indicators to gauge the progress.
2/15
The six outcome targets include:
🔼Safe and affordable drinking water
🔼ending open defecation and providing access to sanitation and hygiene
🔼improving water quality, wastewater treatment, and safe reuse
Richness of cultures, languages & traditions in #SouthAsia also translated into a rich landscape of poetry; giving birth to some of the most renowned & celebrated #poets of the world.
Names like Iqbal, Ghalib, Krishan Chandar, Rehman Baba, Khushal Khan, Amir Khusro, Amjad Islam Amjad, Jalib, Parveen Shakir, Noon Meem Rashid, Abdul Latif Bhitai, Hali, Abul Kalam Azad, Mir Taqi Mir, Rabindranath Tagore, Bhupi Sherchan, Kamila Bhasin; hail from this region.
2/8
Perhaps the one who sits high on the throne of poetry in the region is no other but the legend #Iqbal.
The subcontinent, Afg, as well as Middle Eastern & Central Asian poetic traditions hold Allama Iqbal in high esteem, while he is the acclaimed national poet of 🇵🇰.
Cyber-attack on #Khalistan Referendum in Australia caused disruption in voting thrice.
This, coupled with the arrest of #AmripalSingh in India & a mega crackdown in the Indian state of #Punjab is causing ripples.
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1/5
Mobile internet remained down in #IndianPunjab as the police searched & chased people associated with 'Waris Punjab De' - a collective headed by Amritpal Singh, that supports an independent Punjab.