Pathankot attack 'staged by India', claims Pak

April 5, 2016

New Delhi, Apr 5: In a move that could see India-Pakistan relations plummeting, a team of investigators from Islamabad who visited the Pathankot air force base is expected, according to a media report, to declare that the terror attack at the base was "a drama" staged by India "to malign Pakistan".

Five senior officers from Pakistan, including one from its uber-powerful military intel agency, the ISI, visited India last week and were allowed to tour the Pathankot base where seven military personnel died after a group of Pakistani terrorists breached the 1,200-acre complex at the start of the year.

Pakistan Today quotes a report prepared by the Pakistani Joint Investigating Team or JIT as saying "the attack was a drama staged to malign Pakistan and persuade the world community that Pakistan is involved in terrorism." The report also allegedly states that "Indian authorities also failed to establish that the attackers entered from Pakistan."

Indian government sources responded firmly, stating, "This is the ISI, Pakistan army indulging in usual psychological ops and double-speak."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was attacked by the opposition for permitting the Pakistanis onto the Pathankot base, though defence ministry officials stressed that all sensitive areas had been cordoned off. India's fighter jets and helicopters are among the high-value assets at the base.

The team was sent by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as part of his stated commitment to working with India to identify and punish the guilty. India has blamed the attack on Masood Azhar, the chief of terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which is based in Pakistan.

Sources said the Pakistani team was non-committal about whether the evidence presented by India proves the role of the Jaish.

Government sources said that India "will go by what is officially conveyed by Pakistan and action on the ground."

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Over 58 lakh names dropped from draft voter list in Bengal ahead of polls

News Network

December 16,2025

The deletion of over 58 lakh names from West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has sparked widespread concern and is likely to deepen political tensions in the poll-bound state.

According to the Election Commission, the revision exercise has identified 24 lakh voters as deceased, 19 lakh as relocated, 12 lakh as missing, and 1.3 lakh as duplicate entries. The draft list, published after the completion of the first phase of SIR, aims to remove errors and duplication from the electoral rolls.

However, the scale of deletions has raised fears that a large number of eligible voters may have been wrongly excluded. The Election Commission has said that individuals whose names are missing can file objections and seek corrections. The final voter list is scheduled to be published in February next year, after which the Assembly election announcement is expected. Notably, the last Special Intensive Revision in Bengal was conducted in 2002.

The development has intensified the political row over the SIR process. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress have strongly opposed the exercise, accusing the Centre and the Election Commission of attempting to disenfranchise lakhs of voters ahead of the elections.

Addressing a rally in Krishnanagar earlier this month, Banerjee urged people to protest if their names were removed from the voter list, alleging intimidation during elections and warning of serious consequences if voting rights were taken away.

The BJP, meanwhile, has defended the revision and accused the Trinamool Congress of politicising the issue to protect what it claims is an illegal voter base. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the ruling party fears losing power due to the removal of deceased, fake, and illegal voters.

The controversy comes amid earlier allegations by the Trinamool Congress that excessive work pressure during the SIR led to the deaths by suicide of some Booth Level Officers (BLOs), for which the party blamed the Election Commission. With the draft list now out, another round of political confrontation appears imminent.

As objections begin to be filed, the focus will be on whether the correction mechanism is accessible, transparent, and timely—critical factors in ensuring that no eligible voter is denied their democratic right ahead of a crucial election.

Comments