Latest findings from TRP scandal expose India, vindicate Pakistan: FO

Pakistan said on Sunday that investigation into the TRP scandal has vindicated Pakistan’s stance that India was involved in “state-sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan and anti-Pakistan disinformation and smear campaign globally”. 

Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) said in a press release on Sunday, “In recent months, the world community has been presented with irrefutable evidence of India’s state-sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan and anti-Pakistan disinformation and smear campaign globally. The transcripts included in the Mumbai police charge-sheet against the Republic TV anchor in the TRP case have further exposed India’s sinister designs and vindicated Pakistan’s long held position.

“The latest revelations further confirm what Pakistan has consistently pointed out: The BJP government stages “false flag” operations; maligns Pakistan with terrorism-related allegations; stokes hyper-nationalism in the country; claims to have launched so-called “surgical strike”; and then deviously manipulates national sentiment in its bid to win elections. The pattern is unmistakable, and has been repeated to suit the RSS-BJP regime’s electoral calculations.

“We had, at the outset, rejected India’s malicious propaganda against Pakistan and highlighted that the biggest beneficiary of the Pulwama attack in February 2019 was the BJP government, as it secured landslide victory in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. The transcripts provide further evidence of how this whole enterprise from ‘false flag’ operation to massive electoral success was scripted and fully realized.

“The transcripts also illustrate the unholy nexus between the ‘Hindutva’ regime and its cronies in the Indian media. On the one hand, they show how far and deeply the extremist agenda of the RSS-BJP combine has permeated India’s institutions and pillars of the State. On the other hand, they show how the rights and freedoms of Indian citizens and democratic values in Indian society are being seriously jeopardized through cynical manipulation. Equally important, they show how actions of this reckless regime driven by considerations of domestic politics are gravely imperilling regional peace and security.

“Pakistan, for its part, will continue to counter Indian falsehoods with truth and act firmly and responsibly in the face of India’s provocations. We hope that the international community would take full cognizance of the situation and hold India accountable for its actions vitiating the regional environment and endangering peace and security in South Asia.”