Daily Times

False Flag Operation is a covert operation carried out by the state and designed to deceive people in such a way that it appears as if it was carried by other entities or to shift the responsibility on to some other group/party. It was on August 31, 1939, when several Nazi operatives, dressed as Polish soldiers, stormed the Gleiwitz Radio Tower at the Germany-Poland border. They broadcasted a short anti-German message in Polish before leaving. The soldiers left behind the bodies of a pro-Polish German farmer and several unidentifiable Dachau concentration camp prisoners. The farmer and prisoners had been murdered and dressed up in German uniforms. This was a part of a series of attacks by Germany along the Polish border to justify Germany’s attack on Poland.

This action is referred to as a classic false flag operation. In November 1939, the Russian village of Manila was shelled by an unknown group from Finland. This shelling aimed to drag the Soviet Union in war. Resultantly, Russia invaded Finland, which led to the famous Winter War. In recent times, the 9/11 attack is also considered by some as a false flag operation or an insider job.

The US government was accused of these attacks as a way to justify attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq. Similarly, our neighbour also has a long history of false flag operations. The first such operation was the hijacking of a Fokker plane “Ganga” on its way from India to Lahore in 1971. Later, passengers were released by hijackers, and the plane was set on fire.

As a pretext to this, India cancelled all flights by Pakistani aircrafts flying between West and East Pakistan. On March 20, 2000, 36 Sikh men were shot dead in Chattising Pura Village of Anantnag in Occupied Kashmir. This was done during the visit of the US president, Bill Clinton, the first visit of a US President in 22 years. The incident was blamed on Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen. Later, the Indian army claimed to have killed all five terrorists involved in the attack, which turned out to be local Kashmiris; dubbed as Pakistani infiltrators. In 2017, Lt Gen K S Gill (retired), who was a part of the investigation, confirmed that the Indian army was involved in the massacre. He further said it was done to impress Bill Clinton.

In his book, “The Betrayal of India,” Elias Davidsson raised hundreds of questions and no Indian ever responded to his solid observations and questions. The 905-page book has proved beyond any doubt the involvement of Indian Security Agencies in the attack. It has also been now proved that Ajmal Kasab was an Indian citizen who was issued a domicile by one Lekhpal, revenue officers of tehsil Bidhoona, district Auraiya of Uttar Pradesh state. Pathankot Airbase Attack of January 2, 2016, was timed before the UN General Assembly’s annual session in which the prime minister of Pakistan was to raise the issue of the Indian Occupied Kashmir. The gunbattle lasted for 17 hours, which resulted in the killing of eight persons. The Pakistani delegation, who visited the site, found and observed that the fence/picket around the airbase was removed few hours before the attack and the target site’s searchlights were switched off to facilitate the entry. An officer of India’s National Investigation Agency, who was investigating the attack, Tanzil Ahmed, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in his native town, Bijnore.

The Director-general of Indian National Investigation Agency told media that no traces of Pakistani involvement could be found. In September 2016, another drama was staged in Uri army camp in Indian Occupied Kashmir when the camp was attacked by four armed persons. Around 20 India army troops were killed in the attack. Immediately after the attack, the Indian government and media started blaming Pakistan for the attack. The US government was also not convinced by India’s claim that Pakistan was behind the Uri attack. It was again an attempt to divert attention from the alleged human rights abuses in Indian Occupied Kashmir. Pulwama was yet another false flag operation, where an explosive-laden car (with 350 kilograms) rammed into a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy; comprising of 78 vehicles and almost 2,500 personnel.

The attack took place at heavily guarded Srinagar-Jammu Highway, about 12 miles from Srinagar City. The attack killed 46 security personnel. Immediately after the attack, the Indian government accused Pakistan even without an initial probe. The question is who were the beneficiaries of this attack? It was, of course, Indian attempt to malign Pakistan to isolate Pakistan internationally and obtain various other designs. Lt Gen D S Hooda (retired), who commanded the Indian army’s northern command in 2016, said that it was not possible to bring such a massive amount of explosives to Indian Occupied Kashmir by infiltrating the Line of Control. Pakistan condemned the attack; rejected the Indian allegations that Pakistan was involved with the attack and Prime Minister Imran Khan offered cooperation if India shared actionable evidence.

The Indian army is using Line of Control (LOC) as a flashpoint to divert attention from Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) and National Register of Citizen (NRC)

On February 26, 2019, 12 Mirage 2000H of the IAF crossed the line of control, once challenged by the PAF, dropped payload in haste and fled. India claimed its jets targeted and destroyed a so-called Jaish-e-Muhammad training camp in Balakot. The bombs were dropped in a forest, which damaged five trees and killed a crow. What happened on February 27, 2019, is now a dark chapter in the IAF, when two of their Migs were shot down by PAF and one pilot was arrested. Whenever Pakistan is about to raise the core issue of Kashmir internationally or there is some high-profile event in the region or some foreign leaders visit the region, India creates/undertakes false flag operations as a diversionary tactic.

As expected on August 5, the BJP-led government revoked the special status of Indian Occupied Kashmir by abrogating article 370. The recent political map, issued by the Indian government, has shown Azad Kashmir as a part of the newly-created union territory of IOK while Gilgit-Baltistan was in the union territory of Ladakh. India recently introduced the Citizenship Amendment Bill, according to which Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhist, Jains, Parsis and Christian can now apply for the Indian citizenship if they can prove they came to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Millions of people are protesting against the CAB across India as the bill is anti-Muslim and the aim is to make them second-class citizens. At least 50 people have died in clashes with the security forces.

Curfew has been imposed in some states and with every passing day, the situation is getting out of control of the BJP-led government. States in the north-east have also rejected the bill. The fear in Assam is the large influx will change the region’s demography and would be a threat to their culture, traditions and language. At the same time, the Indian army and RAW are feeding the Indian media with planted news to set the stage for another false flag operation to divert the attention from the deteriorating law and situation in India. According to India Today’s claim, Pakistan is deploying Afghan terrorists to infiltrate Indian Occupied Kashmir from terror launchpads in Azad Kashmir.

It further added Pakistan was preparing Afghan terrorists to carry out terrorist activities in the Indian capital, New Delhi, and also target security forces in Kashmir. According to Indian media claims, JeM was planning to target schools, government buildings and Indian Occupied Kashmir police. The news was also floated by the Indian media that JeM was also planning to target Prime Minister Modi during his rally on December 22, 2019. In September 2019, the Indian army also projected two Pakistanis who inadvertently crossed the LOC as a terrorist. The Indian media fabricated the facts and portrayed two Pakistanis as terrorists and members of JeM. Indian Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat, recently said, “The situation along LOC can escalate any time.”

According to Indian media, “We (Indian army) have to be prepared for spiralling of the escalatory matrix.”

The Indian army is using Line of Control (LOC) as a flashpoint to divert attention from Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), National Register of Citizen (NRC) and the situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir where nine million people are under siege for about five months. There are also reports of the Indian army setting up a fake Pakistani check post in Indian Occupied Kashmir to stage an encounter to malign Pakistan. There are confirmed reports that India was planning to stage a fake operation and government would project it as military action against Pakistan along Line of Control and Working Boundary. The prime minister of Pakistan categorically stated that the statement of Indian army chief added to our concern of false flag operations. Prime Minister Khan reiterated, “If India launches an operation to divert the attention from its domestic chaos plus whip up war hysteria to mobilise Hindu nationalism.”

Pakistan will be left with no choice but to respond befittingly. Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said, during his visit to the LOC, that Pakistan army was fully prepared to thwart any Indian aggression. The prime minister of Pakistan had also warned the international community time and again about the possibility of a false flag operation in a bid to divert the attention from atrocities being committed in Indian Occupied Kashmir and widespread protests and killings against the CAB. It is now the responsibility of the international community to take the escalating situation in South Asia seriously between two nuclear-armed states.

The writer is a retired brigadier and freelance columnist