‘From outside CWC, inside Pakistan Working Committee’: Sambit Patra slams Channi's surgical strike remark

Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sambit Patra on Friday launched a scathing attack on the Congress, accusing the party of undermining national security and echoing narratives favourable to Pakistan.

Addressing the media, Patra slammed the outcome of the recent Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, alleging that the party’s conduct was more in line with Pakistan’s interests than India’s.

“From the outside, they are the Congress Working Committee, but from the inside, they are the Pakistan Working Committee,” he remarked.

Patra went on to accuse the Congress of habitually aiding Pakistan’s narrative. “Every time Pakistan is cornered, the Congress steps in to provide oxygen to its terrorists, its army, and its international image. This is not opposition politics. This is sabotage,” he said.

Referring to Charanjit Singh Channi’s claim that no surgical strike was carried out on Pakistan after the Pulwama attack, Patra questioned whether such a statement undermines the morale of the Indian Army and Air Force.

“Does this not demoralise our armed forces? Does it not shake the confidence of the people of India?” he asked.

“In the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, when the nation is grieving, the Congress party is playing politics,” Patra said.

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“Charanjit Singh Channi has claimed, ‘Bharat ne Pakistan ke upar surgical strike nahi kiya’ (India did not conduct a surgical strike on Pakistan),” he added.

Patra alleged that even though the Congress party does not take terror attacks seriously, and the Gandhi family fails to understand the sentiments of the people, it does not give them the right to demoralise the country’s security forces.

What did Channi say about surgical strikes on Pakistan?

Channi on Friday said the government should take strong and decisive action against Pakistan following the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, and questioned the authenticity of the 2019 surgical strikes, saying no one had seen any proof of them.

“People are waiting for the so-called 56-inch chest to act. We want the government to respond swiftly and deliver results,” said Channi.

Referring to the 2019 Pulwama attack, in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed, Channi said the government later used the incident to claim retaliatory action.

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“But we have never seen where in Pakistan the strikes were done and where people were killed. If someone threw a bomb in our country, will people not know? They claim to have conducted surgical strikes against Pakistan but nothing had happened. Surgical strikes were not seen anywhere and no one knew about them,” he said.

However, following strong criticism from the BJP, Channi backtracked from his remarks. “I have said earlier also that the Congress party, in this hour of grief, is standing by the government. If the government disrupts their (Pakistan's) water supply, air or whatever action it takes, we are standing like a rock with it,” he added.