By Alasdair Pal and Rajendra Jadhav
NEW DELHI / MUMBAI (Reuters) – Indian opposition parties on Monday called for an investigation into the chat messages of a major TV anchor who they said showed prior knowledge of air strikes by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government against Pakistan in 2019.
Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of the Republic TV network, told the head of a TV rating agency that India would launch a “bigger-than-normal attack” on its archrival – three days before Indian fighter jets hit targets alleged militants on Solo Pakistan.
The attack brought the two nations to the brink of war.
“In Pakistan, the government is confident of attacking so that people will be elated,” said a transcript of the messages sent by Goswami. “Exact words used.”
The messages, released by Indian media and viewed by Reuters, are part of an accusation sheet presented by police in Mumbai investigating Republic’s alleged classification fixation – accusations the network denies.
Goswami denied prior knowledge of the air strikes, carried out weeks after an attack by Islamic militants based in Pakistan on an Indian paramilitary convoy in Pulwama district, in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.
“India’s intention to counterattack Pakistan after the attack on Pulwama was an officially declared position,” he said in a statement released by the Republic.
“There was no doubt in the mind of any Indian nationalist that we would react,” he added, accusing the opposition parties of acting as “spokesmen” for Pakistan.
Spokesmen for India’s defense and foreign affairs ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the transcripts.
The Republic often takes positions of support for the Modi government and Goswami is known for his aggressive attacks on the opposition on his prime-time evening program, one of the country’s most watched.
The main opposition party in the Indian Congress, as well as the Shiv Sena, the regional party that governs the state of Maharashtra, where the TV channel is located, called for a government inquiry into the messages.
Shashi Tharoor, a Congressional lawmaker, said the messages called for “serious investigation” by the Modi government, which made national security a top priority.
The messages rekindled tensions with Pakistan, with the Islamabad Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying that the transcripts showed that the strikes were planned to coincide with a general election that Modi won by a landslide a few months later.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in New Delhi and Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai; edited by Sanjeev Miglani and Mark Heinrich)