New Delhi, Feb 26: India on Wednesday marked the sixth anniversary of the Balakot airstrike, carried out by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in response to the deadly Pulwama terror attack.

The airstrike was part of India’s campaign against cross-border terrorism and manifested the country’s willingness to take decisive action against terror infrastructure in Pakistan.

The airstrike carried out in the very early hours of February 26, 2019, was a “punitive strike” on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) facility in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) in which Balakot-based terror camp was destroyed.

Codenamed Operation Bandar, the entire operation — right from the aircraft entering PoK and landing back in India — lasted about 21 minutes.

A total of 16 aircraft, six each armed with Spice 2000 and Crystal Maze missiles, crossed the Line of Control (LoC) into PoK and hit the Balakot terror camp while four remained in the Indian territory as a backup.

The airstrike was carried out by the seventh and ninth squadrons of the IAF.

India’s Intelligence had singled out the Balakot facility as one of JeM’s largest training centres, where operatives were trained for suicide missions and deadly terror attacks. The intelligence inputs had indicated that the camp housed a significant number of militants, including senior commanders.

The operation was in retaliation for the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers were killed on February 14, 2019. The attack was by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethapora in the district.

Later the same day, the Modi government confirmed the airstrike. The airstrike was the first aerial shootdown carried out by India in Pakistan since the India-Pakistan war of 1971.

Commemorating the day, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath posted on his X handle, “On the 6th anniversary of the Balakot Air Strike, a grateful tribute to the infinite valor and unwavering courage of the brave soldiers of @IAF_MCC ! This bold operation is a reflection of the might of the ‘New India’, our nation’s zero tolerance policy against terrorism and the amazing tactical prowess and unique strategic skills of the air warriors. Jai Hind!:

Kolkata, Feb 25: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Tuesday, clarified to the media persons her point on the recent controversies over her comments in the Assembly earlier this month, describing “Maha Kumbh” at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh as “Mrityu Kumbh”.

However, throughout her interaction with the media persons, she did not utter that controversial word even once on Tuesday.

“I have nothing to say about those who went for the holy bath at Maha Kumbh. I have great regard for them. I have respect for all religions. I talked about the lack of planning there. But my statements were distorted and said all sorts of negative things. I want to tell them that all you said was untrue,” the Chief Minister told media persons.

According to her, accidents can happen.

“But the people suffer if the accident takes place because of negligence. People also suffer if there is a lack of proper planning in handling the crisis after the accident. I request the Uttar Pradesh government to hand over the compensation announced by them to the affected families at the earliest,” the Chief Minister said.

This is for the first time that the Chief Minister has commented on the controversies arising over her statement made earlier this month on the floor of the Assembly during the ongoing first phase of the Budget Session of the House.

However, last week, a senior Trinamool Congress leader and a member of the state Cabinet, Manas Ranjan Bhunia, came forward in defence of Chief Minister Banerjee over the matter and claimed that the Chief Minister’s comment was picked up selectively and out of contest.

“No one in the state government had made any attempts to malign the Maha Kumbh. The Chief Minister, too, had not criticised the event. She has spoken about the loss of life because of the administrative mismanagement there. In addition, a Central report has reported high-level faecal bacteria in the river water at Prayagraj,” Bhunia claimed.

Following the statements made by the Chief Minister on the floor of the House she came under all-round criticism from different corners of the country.

New Delhi, Feb 25: Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta on Tuesday suspended 21 AAP legislators from attending the proceedings for the next three sittings even as the session was extended by three days for discussion on the CAG report on excise policy tabled in the House.

The suspended AAP legislators, including Leader of Opposition Atishi, were marshalled out of the House for disrupting proceedings and shouting slogans of “Jai Bhim” and demanding the restoration of photos of Dr B.R. Ambedkar and Shaheed Bhagat Singh to the office of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. A charge denied by the Chief Minister.

Incidentally, AAP MLA from Okhla, Amanatullah Khan was the only one not to be suspended out of the 22 MLAs as he was not present in the House on Tuesday.

Later, Speaker Gupta told reporters that the AAP legislators’ suspension will remain in force on February 25, 27 and 28.

“Maintaining the honour of the House is our top priority. The AAP legislators adopted unethical behaviour when the LG was trying to follow his constitutional duty,” he said.

He said the CAG report on excise policy will be referred to the Public Accounts Committee after discussion by the members in the House.

He indicated that more CAG reports are likely to be tabled in the House whose session has been extended till March 3.

Taking part in the vote of thanks on the address of Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena, former Gandhi Nagar legislator and Delhi minister Arvinder Singh Lovely sought a special sitting of the House to discus the CAG report, calling it an “extraordinary situation that requires exposing corruption of the previous government”.

Lovely said in the normal course a CAG report is sent to the Public Accounts Committee but a special session is needed in this case.

Hitting out at the protest by AAP legislators, Lovely claimed, “They are trying to hide behind the photo of B.R. Ambedkar and Shaheed Bhagat Singh.”

“Did Bhagat Singh ever say that a government should indulge in liquor scam or school scam?” he asked, slamming the AAP government for disrespecting Dr Ambedkar by not following the constitutional practices mandated by him.

“The AAP government disrespected Ambedkar by quashing Question Hour from Delhi Assembly’s proceedings. They took away the democratic right of legislators to raise questions in public interest,” he said.

The day’s proceedings in the Assembly began with the LG’s address in which he promised to give Rs 2,500 every month to women in Delhi.

LG Saxena on Tuesday highlighted the ‘Viksit Delhi’ manifesto as the guiding principle of the new government which is committed to delivering a corruption-free administration.