KARACHI: Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has launched a scathing attack on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in parliament, following explosive claims by former US President Donald Trump that five Indian fighter jets were downed during the May Pakistan-India clashes.
Speaking during a tense session in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi openly dared Modi to refute Trump’s assertion on the floor of the House. “If Modi has the courage, let him say in this House that Trump lied. Say that there was no ceasefire and no Indian jets were downed”, Gandhi said.
He added: “If Modi has the courage of Indira Gandhi, he should stand up and speak the truth”.
Gandhi’s remarks came in the wake of Trump’s public declaration, made during a speech in Scotland, that five Indian aircraft had been shot down in May, and that he had personally brokered a ceasefire between the nuclear-armed rivals.
The Indian government has so far avoided naming Trump directly. However, in his address to parliament on Tuesday, Modi categorically denied that any world leader had pressured India to halt its military campaign. “No world leader asked us to stop the operation”, Modi said during a debate on Operation Sindoor. The Indian prime minister insisted that Pakistan had pleaded for peace once it began to feel the “heat of our attacks”.
Adding weight to the opposition’s charge, senior Congress leader and MP Amarinder Singh presented what he claimed was photographic evidence of a downed Rafale fighter jet near the Bhisiana Air Force Station in Punjab.
Singh told parliament he had personally visited the site and seen the tail section of a fighter jet marked ‘BS001’, a Rafale identifier. He said one person was killed and nine others injured in the incident. He further accused Air Marshal A K Bharti of misleading the public by claiming that an “unknown aircraft” had crashed, even though the loss of a Rafale was privately acknowledged.
The downing took place during retaliatory strikes by the Pakistan Air Force on the night of May 6–7, when, according to multiple reports, six Indian aircraft -- including Rafales -- were brought down. French authorities are said to have corroborated the incident.
During the same parliamentary debate on Tuesday, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah announced that Indian forces had killed the three men alleged to have carried out the Pahalgam attack.
“I want to tell ... the entire nation that these were the three terrorists who killed our citizens ... and now all three have been killed”, Shah told parliament.
Shah claimed that the Indian army tracked the attackers -- who Delhi alleges were from Pakistan -- to a forest in Occupied Kashmir, where an intense gun battle on Monday resulted in their deaths. The Indian minister also claimed that two of the men were found with Pakistani ‘voter ID cards’ and chocolates manufactured in Pakistan were also recovered at the scene. According to forensic tests cited by Shah, the rifles used in the gunfight matched those used in the April attack.
“These are clear and undeniable proofs of Pakistani involvement,” he said.
Indian opposition, though, is continuing its questioning of the Indian government’s handling of the entire situation, with Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launching a blistering critique of the government’s security failure during the same debate.
“Everyone talks about ‘Operation Sindoor’, and we are proud of our army. But no one talks about what happened in Pahalgam on April 22 -- when people were massacred in front of their family members”, she said.
She highlighted the story of Shubham Dwivedi, a recently married man who had gone to Baisaran Valley with his wife and extended family.
Quoting Shubham’s wife, Gandhi said, “The government left us orphaned. For over an hour, no one came. No security, no first aid, nothing”.
She sharply questioned why, despite 1,000–1,500 tourists visiting the area daily, there were no security arrangements in place. “The prime minister and home minister say Kashmir is normal. Then why were civilians left at the mercy of terrorists?”
Gandhi also drew comparisons with how the previous UPA government had handled the 2008 Mumbai attacks. “After 26/11, our home minister resigned. The Maharashtra CM stepped down. During those attacks, all terrorists were gunned down on the same day and only one was caught alive. He was also hanged later, accountability was clear. But has Home Minister Amit Shah resigned or even taken responsibility? Under his nose, Pahalgam happened, Manipur is still burning, Delhi riots happened — but where is the accountability?”
Meanwhile, political tremors have also spread into the sporting world. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi, seen as a vocal anti-Pakistan figure, has voiced strong opposition to India’s upcoming Asia Cup cricket match against Pakistan, scheduled for September 14.
“My conscience doesn’t allow me to watch the match”, said Owaisi. “We are blocking 80 per cent of Pakistan’s water, claiming that blood and water can’t flow together -- so how can cricket go on?” The parliamentary storm comes amid reports that India has launched a new covert military campaign, Operation Mahadev, to mask the failures of Operation Sindoor. According to reports, Indian forces have revived the use of fake encounters, with illegally detained Pakistani nationals being staged as infiltrating terrorists. Security sources have told Pakistani media that the plan includes using detainees already held in Indian jails and staging their deaths as cross-border infiltration incidents.
In a separate diplomatic development -- and what is being seen as an indirect snub to India -- President Trump sent a letter to Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, General Counsel for Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).
The letter arrives ahead of the planned Khalistan referendum in Washington, DC, scheduled for August 17. It also comes in the wake of a foiled assassination plot against Pannun, which the US alleges was orchestrated by RAW. Indian national Nikhil Gupta was indicted in the US in connection with the conspiracy.
Trump’s letter, dated July 24 and shared publicly by Pannun, stated: “My Administration puts our citizens, our values, and our Nation FIRST… ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity worldwide”.
The White House communication, laden with pledges of justice and security, has been interpreted as a further diplomatic embarrassment for India as it grapples with criticism over its domestic and foreign policy conduct.
