‘Ghus Kar Maarenge’: Eye on Lok Sabha polls, Modi treads grey zone on charge of ‘Mossad-like’ killings in Pakistan

National security was one of the key issues that resulted in a historic victory for the BJP-led NDA, making Narendra Modi the first non-Congress Prime Minister to be re-elected to power. (File Photo: X/@narendramodi)

The Indian government assassinated individuals in Pakistan as part of a wider strategy to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil, claimed a report in the Guardian published last week, citing conversations with Indian and Pakistani intelligence operatives. As per the report, the claims relate to the extrajudicial killings of as many as 20 individuals charged with serious and violent terror offences since 2020.

The Ministry of External Affairs has categorically denied the allegations and reiterated that they were “false and malicious anti-India propaganda”. The MEA also emphasised External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s earlier remark that targeted killings on foreign soil were not the policy of the Government of India.

‘Mossad-like Executions’

As per the intelligence sources cited by Guardian, targeted assassinations increased significantly after 2023, resulting in 15 people being shot dead at close range by unidentified gunmen in the year alone. The report cites intelligence officials in India and Pakistan as well as documents shared by Pakistani investigators to buttress its claims.

According to Pakistani investigators cited in the report, these deaths were orchestrated by Indian intelligence sleeper cells mostly operating out of the United Arab Emirates. The rise in killings in 2023 was credited to the increased activity of these cells, which are accused of paying crores of rupees to local criminals or poor Pakistanis to carry out the assassinations. Indian agents also allegedly recruited jihadists to carry out the shootings, making them believe they were killing “infidels”, the report states.

While the RAW’s focus on dissidents following the Pulwama attack in 2019 by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, the allegations also suggest that Sikh separatists in the Khalistan movement were targeted as part of these Indian foreign operations, both in Pakistan and the West.

Those assassinated under mysterious circumstances include top LeT commander and key 26/11 conspirator Azam Cheema, Sheikh Jameel-ur-Rehman, a wanted terrorist commander and secretary general of the United Jihad Council, Paramjit Singh Panjwar, Khalistan Commando Force leader and prominent LeT operatives like Maulana Ziaur Rehman and Mufti Qaiser. Pathankot attack mastermind and Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Shahid Latif was also among those killed. Other prominent killings included those of Zahoor Mistry, involved in the hijacking of an Air India flight Hizbul Mujahideen commander Bashir Ahmad Peer and Saleem Rehmani, among others.

‘Ghar Mein Ghus Kar Maara’

The stand taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, two top functionaries of the government, defy the MEA’s response to the allegations. Addressing poll rallies in Rajasthan and Uttarakhand recently, the Prime Minister appeared to take cue from the Guardian report as he highlighted how the BJP government at the Centre was tackling terrorists with an iron hand.

“Terrorists ko ghar mein ghus kar maara,” the Prime Minister said at a rally in Rishikesh on Thursday. The Prime Minister did not clarify whether he was accepting the charges of India’s involvement in extrajudicial killings in Pakistan or if his assertion was in reference to India’s earlier exploits where it conducted surgical strikes in PoK and the air strikes in Balakot deep inside Pakistan territory.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh appeared to take the rhetoric a notch up. Quizzed about the claims made in the Guardian report in an interview with News18, Singh reiterated his often-articulated stand that anyone who tries to disrupt peace in India will face severe consequences. “Are you referring to terrorists? Anyone who attempts to disrupt India’s peace or create unrest will face dire consequences. We will pursue them into Pakistan, if necessary,” he said.

The Defence Minister said that Prime Minister Modi had made it clear this policy was “right” and that “India has the capability” to do so. “Pakistan has also started understanding this,” he said, mirroring Modi’s earlier remark at a rally in Churu, Rajasthan where he said: “Yeh naya Bharat hai, ghar mein ghus kar marenge.”

Grey Zone Warfare

The Prime Minister’s chest-thumping while refusing to accept or deny the allegations appears to be part of a calculated strategy going into the Lok Sabha elections where it has set the NDA a stiff target of over 400 seats. National security was one of the key issues that resulted in a historic victory for the BJP-led NDA, making Modi the first non-Congress Prime Minister to be re-elected to power. The Balakot air strike allowed the government to project Modi as a leader who wasn’t afraid to take tough decisions and target Congress over its “soft” approach on terror.

Cut to 2024, and the BJP found this key issue missing from its election campaign. The Guardian report though came as a blessing in disguise. It re-established the Modi government’s muscular foreign policy credentials even as the MEA ensured there were no slip-ups on its part when it came to engagements on the geopolitical front. At the same time, they bolster the BJP’s narrative of hardline posturing towards Pakistan.

Experts believe that the issue of national security and terrorism resonates widely with a large section of the electorate and the Guardian report allows the BJP to bring it back to the forefront.