‘Trembling’ Bajwa, Qureshi released Abhinandan fearing India’s attack
| Date :30-Oct-2020 |
ISLAMABAD,
“Legs were shaking and forehead perspiring, and the Foreign Minister (Qureshi) told us, ‘For God’s sake, let him (Varthaman) go back now because India is attacking Pakistan at 9 pm in the night’”, said Pakistan Oppn leader Sadiq n By Sajjad Hussain
“LEGS were shaking and forehead perspiring” at a meeting of Pakistan’s top leaders, including Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, wherein Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi pleaded to release Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, saying if he was not released, India would attack Pakistan, a top Pakistani Opposition leader has said. Recalling the tension in Islamabad after India bombed a terror training camp in Pakistan’s Balakot on February 26, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Sardar Ayaz Sadiq criticised the Imran Khan Government over its response, saying the Opposition has supported the Government on every issue, including Kashmir and Varthaman, but it will no longer be appropriate to provide any further support, ‘Dunya News’ reported on Wednesday.
Sadiq, who was the Speaker of the National Assembly during the PML-N Government, made a similar statement earlier on Wednesday in Parliament here that Foreign Minister Qureshi in an important meeting pleaded that let Varthaman go back because India is attacking Pakistan. The 37-year-old IAF pilot was captured by the Pakistani Army on February 27 after his MiG-21 Bison jet was shot down in a dogfight with Pakistani jets during aerial combat. In the early hours of February 26, 2019, the IAF jets bombed the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror camps in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan and avenged the Pulwama terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel. Before his jet was hit, Varthaman downed an F-16 fighter of Pakistan.
He was released on the night of March 1 by Pakistan. In a speech in the National Assembly, Sadiq said that Prime Minister Imran Khan skipped the high-level meeting, which was attended by top leadership, including Army chief Gen Bajwa and Foreign Minister Qureshi. “Legs were shaking and forehead perspiring, and the Foreign Minister (Qureshi) told us, ‘For God’s sake, let him (Varthaman) go back now because India is attacking Pakistan at 9 pm in the night’”, Sadiq said, recalling the meeting which was also attended by parliamentary leaders, including those from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and PML-N, and added that “India was not planning to attack...They just wanted to kneel before India and send back Abhinandan.” It was not very clear whether Sadiq was referring to Gen.
Bajwa or Foreign Minister Qureshi whose legs were shaking and forehead perspiring. He also did not mention the date of the meeting, but indicated that it was held before the release of Varthaman. Sadiq said that he tries not to make any personal attacks but “when those in power refer to us as thieves or “Modi ka yaar” (Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pal), we will have to respond”. He also said that those running the Government were not serious people.
“The rulers don’t even know the rules of Parliament,” he said. Sadiq said that the Opposition has supported the Government of Prime Minister Imran Khan on every issue, including Kashmir and Varthaman, but it will no longer be appropriate to provide any further support.
We were ready to wipe out Pak’s forward brigades after Balakot: B S Dhanoa
NEW DELHI,
Oct 29 (ANI)
FORMER Air Force chief B S Dhanoa on Thursday said that India was ready to wipe out Pakistan’s forward brigades had Islamabad’s “military adventure” been successful in response to the Balakot aerial strikes and added that “our military posture was very offensive”.
His remarks came after PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq said in the National Assembly that Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had in an important meeting pointed out that if Pakistan did not release Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, India would attack Pakistan “that night by 9 pm”. “Abhinandan’s father and I served together. So, when Abhinandan ejected I told him that we could not get Ahuja back, but will definitely get Abhinandan back. During the Kargil war, my flight commander Ahuja was captured and shot dead. That was playing on my mind. I told him that there are two parts. The main pressure on Pakistan was diplomatic and political. But there was also a military posture,” Dhanoa told ANI. “The way he (Pakistan MP) is saying that ‘Pair ‘kaanp rahe the’ (legs were trembling).
It is because the military posture was very offensive... God forbid if there are military misadventure on 27th and hit some of our military installations, we were in a position to wipe out their forward brigades. They know what is our capability,” he said. Dhanoa, who was the Indian Air Force chief when the aerial strikes took place in Pakistan, said that Indian military could not strike to secure Abhinandan’s release but it could do it to put pressure on the Pakistan military. “But that decision is political. Whether we need to go to war. Suppose strike on 27th had been successful, then to what extent do we respond. Do we respond with a full-scale war or only hitting their forward brigades opposite us? This is a political decision,” he said. The former IAF chief said that the Balakot strike had put fear into Jaish-e-Mohammad and their Pakistani handlers that India can hit them in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) as well as in Pakistan. “Till the time Indian elections got over, there was nothing because they knew the response is going to be very swift. We were deployed in this manner that we could respond at very short notice. It is very good for the morale that he was released at such a short period of time and he came back unharmed,” he said.
Pak admits to role in Pulwama terror attack
ISLAMABAD,
Oct 29 (PTI)
IN A sensational admission, a senior Pakistani minister on Thursday admitted that Pakistan was responsible for the Pulwama terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 that killed 40 CRPF personnel and brought the two countries to the brink of a war. “Humne Hindustan ko ghus ke maara (We hit India in their home). Our success in Pulwama, is a success of this nation under the leadership of Imran Khan. You and us are all part of that success,” Science & Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry said in the National Assembly during a debate. Chaudhry, a close aide of Prime Minister Imran Khan, made the remarks a day after Opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ayaz Sadiq said that Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in an important meeting pleaded to release Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by the Pakistani Army on February 27, 2019 after his MiG-21 Bison jet was shot down in a dogfight with Pakistani jets.
Chaudhry, who was the information and broadcasting minister at the time of the Pulwama attack, criticised Sadiq’s remarks and termed them as “inappropriate”. The international community led by the US has pressed Pakistan to deny safe haven to terror groups operating from its soil and bring the perpetrators of the Pulwama attack to justice.