RAWALPINDI: Following failure of Operation Sindoor and Pahalgam false flag operation, India has once again started fake encounters under the guise of Operation Mahadev.
Indian troops martyred three Kashmiri youths in a fake encounter during a violent cordon and search operation in Srinagar district of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. According to Kashmir Media Service, the operation was jointly launched by Indian Army, police and Central Reserve Police Force in Dachigam area of the district. The operation is ongoing in Lidwas, Dara and adjoining areas. According to security sources, the new covert Indian military campaign has been launched to cover up the setbacks of Operation Sindoor.
Under the nefarious plan, the Indian regime is allegedly preparing to use innocent Pakistanis, illegally and forcibly detained, in staged encounters, falsely portraying them as cross-border terrorists.
The objective of Operation Mahadev is to suppress the growing freedom movement in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and to restore the Modi government’s waning political credibility.
Security sources said India is attempting to present Operation Mahadev as a successful military initiative to erase the embarrassment of Operation Sindoor.
India’s senior Congress leader and former Home Minister P Chidambaram has criticised the Modi government for its lack of transparency in handling the Pahalgam attack and the follow-up Operation Sindoor.
In an interview with ‘The Quint’, Chidambaram questioned the Modi-led BJP’s government’s silence on crucial aspects such as the identity of the attackers and the status of the NIA’s investigation.
He suggested that the government might be hiding tactical mistakes and casualties, accusing it of withholding important information from the public.
“Where are the terrorist attackers? Why have you not apprehended them, or even identified them? A news item had emerged about the arrest of a few people who gave the attackers shelter. What happened to them?” he asked, referring to the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 people.
Chidambaram also highlighted what he described as the absence of clear and official communication. “We get snatches and bits of information from different officers. The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) goes to Singapore and makes a statement that give you bits of information. The deputy army chief makes a statement in Mumbai. In Indonesia, a junior officer of the Navy makes a statement. But why is the PM or the defence minister, or the foreign minister not making a comprehensive statement?” he said.
When asked what he thought the government was attempting to conceal, Chidambaram replied: “I think, and this is speculation, I think they are hiding the fact that we made tactical mistakes (during Operation Sindoor), and we re-strategised...
The CDS gave a hint about it. What were the tactical errors? What changes were made to the strategy? Either the BJP government lacks the competence to answer these questions or it is deliberately avoiding them,” Chidambaram said. He also raised concerns about the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) involvement in the probe.
“They are unwilling to disclose what the NIA has done all these weeks. Have they identified the terrorists, where they came from? For all we know, they could be homegrown terrorists. Why do you assume that they came from Pakistan? There’s no evidence of that,” he said.
Chidambaram further added: “They are also hiding the losses. I said it in a column that in a war, losses will occur on both sides. I understand that India would have suffered losses. Be upfront.”
Earlier in April, the Indian central government, under Modi, reportedly admitted that a security failure played a role in the terror attack in Pahalgam, located in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), which resulted in the deaths of 26 people, most of them tourists.
Meanwhile, Vice President Pakistan People’s Party and Parliamentary leader of the PPP in the Senate Senator Sherry Rehman, has responded to the remarks made by former Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram regarding the Pahalgam incident, calling his statement a rare moment of truth from within India’s own political corridors.
“Former Indian home minister Chidambaram has held up a mirror to the Modi government,” said Senator Rehman. “His statement clearly exposes the baseless and politically motivated allegations India has been leveling against Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam attack. There is no evidence to suggest Pakistan’s involvement, yet the Modi regime continues to rely on scapegoating instead of introspection,” she said incident. Senator Sherry Rehman underscored that Pakistan had offered India the option of an independent investigation into the matter, underscoring Islamabad’s commitment to transparency and peace. “We made it clear we are open to an impartial probe, but the Indian government refuses — because it fears that the truth will come out, and it won’t support their narrative,” she said.
Commenting on international dynamics, Senator Rehman noted, “US President Donald Trump has gone on record no less than 27 times stating that he played a key role in brokering the ceasefire between India and Pakistan. Modi continues to deny this, but doesn’t have the courage to say Trump is lying. That silence speaks volumes.” Pakistan continues to stand as an advocate for peace and regional stability. In contrast, India clings to a dangerous pattern of blame games and disinformation, damaging the prospects for dialogue and progress,” she added.
“The Pahalgam incident, as many now acknowledge, was a tragic result of India’s own state security failures. Instead of externalising blame, the Modi government must take responsibility and address its internal lapses. Deflecting failure by pointing fingers at Pakistan will not change the facts.” Senator Sherry Rehman concluded by calling on the international community to recognize the growing costs of political deflection and disinformation in the region, stating that peace cannot be achieved through propaganda and denial.
Meanwhile, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday told the Indian Lok Sabha that Operation Sindoor had been “paused” after achieving its “desired politico-military objectives”, adding that the action was not halted under any foreign pressure. The remarks came during a heated parliamentary debate on the fallout of the April 22 Pahalgam attack.
“If Pakistan indulges in fresh misadventure, it will resume again”, Singh warned in his opening remarks, reiterating what Indian officials have previously framed as a retaliatory strike.
The Indian defence minister added that the operation was “non-escalatory” and executed with civilian safety in mind. Singh described the operation as a “historic and decisive demonstration” of Indian military capability, claiming over 100 militants had been killed in 22 minutes.
However, the Indian government’s triumphant narrative was met with a fierce backlash from opposition lawmakers, who raised pointed questions about intelligence failures and a lack of transparency surrounding the April 22 attack. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi lambasted the government for evading accountability. “Over 100 days have passed, yet the government hasn’t explained how the terrorists managed to infiltrate Pahalgam and execute such a horrific attack”, Gogoi said. He further accused senior military leaders of acknowledging “initial missteps” in the course of Operation Sindoor.
Gogoi also took aim at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for failing to visit the victims’ families in Pahalgam, contrasting Modi’s absence with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s public outreach. Modi did not attend the special parliamentary session on Monday either, despite repeated demands by the opposition.
Adding to the tensions was the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s repeated assertions that he had mediated a ceasefire between India and Pakistan following their four-day military standoff in May. Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar flatly denied these claims in Parliament, saying there had been no contact between Trump and Modi between April 22 and June 17.
“I want to make two things clear: at no stage, in any conversation with the US, was there any linkage with trade and what was going on...There was no call between the prime minister and President Donald from April 22... to June 17”.
Jaishankar said that calls from other nations had conveyed Pakistan’s willingness to cease hostilities, but India insisted that any formal request came through military channels. “That is exactly how that request came”, he said, implying that Pakistan had initiated the ceasefire.
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah backed Jaishankar’s version and lashed out at the opposition for choosing to “believe someone from another country instead” of India’s foreign minister. “It is precisely because of this attitude that they are sitting in the opposition today, and they will continue to sit there for the next 20 years”, said Shah.
Not impressed with the government version was Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, who referred to Jaishankar’s statements in parliament and said that: “There are certain things that he hasn’t categorically said. He has made some statements but hasn’t categorically said that the US was not involved in the ceasefire. He said that PM Modi didn’t speak to US President Trump for a certain period but hasn’t categorically said that the US wasn’t involved”.
Critics have continued to point out the lack of transparency and unanswered questions, including how the attackers infiltrated Indian territory and why the investigation into the attack has seen little progress.
The Indian defence minister said the armed forces were given a “free hand” in launching Operation Sindoor on May 7, with strikes conducted on targets inside Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. However, Singh did not address opposition concerns about the verifiability of India’s claims, nor did he mention any casualties or destruction on the Pakistani side beyond asserting that “India has proof”.
The opposition also criticised the government’s refusal to respond to Trump’s claims about Indian jet losses, even as Singh avoided acknowledging whether India suffered setbacks during the operation.
“I want to tell the opposition… ask this: Have the terrorists who wiped the sindoor off our sisters and daughters been dealt with by our forces?” Singh asked rhetorically. “The answer is, yes… Were any of our brave soldiers harmed? No, none of our soldiers were harmed”.
He warned the opposition against focusing on “relatively small issues,” accusing them of distracting from the “big picture” of national security and military morale.
In a final swipe during the Indian Lok Sabha debate, Jaishankar accused the Congress of having “enabled” Pakistan-China collaboration over the past decades, pointing to military and nuclear agreements dating back to the 1960s. He further dismissed concerns over Pakistan’s recently approved $7 billion IMF loan, calling the country a “serial borrower”.
India’s defence minister said on Monday that New Delhi had ended its military conflict with Pakistan in May as it had met all its objectives and had not responded to pressure, rejecting US President Donald Trump’s claim that he brokered the truce.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was speaking at the opening of a discussion in parliament on the April 22 attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir in which 26 men were killed.
“India halted its operation because all the political and military objectives studied before and during the conflict had been fully achieved,” Singh said.
“To suggest that the operation was called off under pressure is baseless and entirely incorrect,” he said. Singh’s comments came as the Indian Army said that it had killed “three terrorists” in an intense gun battle in Indian Kashmir on Monday.
Indian TV channels said the three were suspected to be behind the April attack. Reuters could not immediately verify the information and security officials did not respond to requests for comment.
The Kashmir attack was the worst assault on civilians in the country since the 2008 Mumbai attacks. New Delhi said Pakistani nationals were involved in the killings and blamed Islamabad for backing them. Pakistan denied involvement and sought an independent investigation.
In the latest conflict, the two sides used fighter jets, missiles, drones and other munitions, killing dozens of people, before Trump announced they had agreed to a ceasefire. Pakistan thanked Trump for brokering the agreement but India said Washington had no hand in it and that New Delhi and Islamabad had agreed between themselves to end the fighting.
“At no stage, in any conversation with the United States, was there any linkage with trade and what was going on,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said, referring to Trump’s repeated remarks that he had used the prospect of trade deals between Washington and the two countries as leverage to broker peace.
There was also no conversation between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi between the day of the Kashmir attack when Trump called to convey his sympathy and June 17 when Modi was in Canada for the G-7 summit, Jaishankar told parliament.
Indian opposition groups have questioned what they say is the intelligence failure behind the Kashmir attack and the government’s inability to capture the assailants - issues they are expected to raise during the parliament discussion. They have also criticised Modi for coming under pressure from Trump and agreeing to end the fighting, along with reports that Indian jets were shot down during the fighting. Pakistan claimed it downed five Indian planes in combat, and India’s highest ranking general told Reuters that India suffered initial losses in the air, but declined to give details.
