Balakot has been re-activated, our troops on high alert, says Army chief

In what is all set to put India on high alert, it has been revealed that Balakot in Pak-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) has been re-activated. It has further come to light that 500 infiltrators are waiting to cross over into India.

This was disclosed by the Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat while emphasising that the Indian army is well equipped to deal with any kind of an eventuality.

The chief of the Army staff earlier inaugurated the Young leaders training wing at the Officers Training Academy (OTA).

Addressing the media at OTA here he said, “Balakot has been re-activated by Pakistan, very recently. This shows Balakot was affected, it was damaged; it highlights some action was taken by the Indian Air Force at Balakot and now they have got the people back there.”

He further added that Pakistan is once again back to its old ways and that it has begun violating the ceasefire agreements. He added that the army is prepared to deal with the ceasefire violations and assured that our troops know how to position themselves and take action when required.

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“Pakistanis are also infiltrating along the Line of Control (LoC), we have deployed forces there so that it can be curbed,” he said.

It is to be noted that the Indian Air Force had carried out an attack at terror camps in Balakot in retaliation to the deadly terror attacks on CRPF personnel in Pulwama in February this year.

In March, Congress leader Sam Pitroda had asked the government to come out with “more facts” on the Balakot airstrikes and it had led to a political slugfest.

Talking about the scenario in Kashmir, the army chief said that all the communication lines are through in the valley and special arrangements are made for people there.

“There is a communication breakdown between terrorists in the Kashmir Valley and their handlers in Pakistan but there is no communication breakdown between people to people,” General Rawat said.

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Rawat questioned, “How are they buying their food, daily needs?” Stating that all shops have been opened, he said, “People are not dying hungry, food is being cooked.”

Rejecting talk of a clampdown he questioned, “If there was a clampdown, how come there are smokes coming from the brick kilns, sands are loading into the trucks on the banks of Jhelum river? When all these are operating, how come there is a clampdown?” Terrorists want to create some kind of tension in the valley.”

Due to some elements, who possibly want to create disruption in society, a large number of people are fed with wrong information about Islam, he further said. As an antidote to such propagation, he called for induction of preachers who convey the correct meaning of Islam.