India preparing grounds for false-flag operation by projecting 2 Pakistani civilians as terrorists: ISPR

Published September 7, 2019
The two Pakistanis who had crossed the LoC by mistake last month. — Photo courtesy ISPR
The two Pakistanis who had crossed the LoC by mistake last month. — Photo courtesy ISPR

The military's media wing on Saturday cautioned that the Indian army and media were projecting two Pakistani civilians who had inadvertently crossed the Line of Control (LoC) last month as terrorists in "yet another attempt to fabricate facts".

On August 21, two farmers in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, identified as Muhammad Nazeem, 21, and 30-year-old Khalil Ahmed, had unintentionally crossed the LoC near Hajipir while they were out for cutting grass, a press release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

The incident was discussed by Pakistani and Indian military authorities during their weekly hotline contact on August 27. Indian authorities had at the time informed Pakistan that routine legal formalities were taking place and that they would get back on that account, according to the ISPR.

Also read: Pakistan won’t leave Kashmiris alone: Bajwa

However, on September 2 some Indian media outlets "fabricated the facts" and portrayed the two Pakistani individuals as members of a proscribed organisation.

As per the press release, the false Indian story was communicated to Indian authorities during the next weekly hotline contact on Sept 3.

It was then "assured by Indian side that due legal process was in place and outcome will be shared with Pakistani authorities", the military's media wing said.

In complete disregard to formal information-sharing mechanisms, however, "a false and fabricated story was presented by Indian Army during a presser on September 4 portraying the individuals as terrorists," the statement added.

It said the apprehended Pakistani civilians were also forced to give a confessional statement under duress of the Indian military that they were trained in Pakistan and belonged to Rawalpindi.

"The attempt is another Indian effort to prepare grounds for a false-flag operation," the ISPR said, adding that Pakistan was taking up a formal case regarding the development based on evidence to "expose Indian lies".

The statement clarified that both individuals in Indian custody are inadvertent crossers who are local farmers and residents of village Terraban (Hillan) along the LoC and not Rawalpindi.

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