‘Nothing Happened’: Channi Questions Surgical Strike, BJP Says 'Congress Supply Oxygen To Pakistan'

Last Updated:May 03, 2025, 10:16 IST

Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi stoked row as he questioned the 2016 Surgical strike on terror launchpads in PoK, alleging that "nothing happened". The BJP has hit back at him.

Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi stokes row (PTI Image)

Amid buzz over a possible military response to the Pahalgam terror attack, Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi on Friday stoked controversy as he raised questions on the Surgical strike conducted by the Indian Army in PoK in retaliation for the Uri attack in 2016.

While attacking the Centre over its answer to the Pahalgam massacre, he said that “nothing happened" on the ground as “nobody knew anything about it".

Channi Stokes Row

The Congress MP attacked the BJP over Indian Army’s surgical strike back in 2016 and said that it was “nowhere to be seen".

“Hamare desh mein aakar koi bomb gire pata nahi chalega. Kehte hain ji Pakistan mein humne surgical strike kiye the. Kuch nahi hua, kahin nahi dikhe surgical strike, kisi ko nahi pata chala. We demand that the government do something. Tell the nation who is involved and punish them. (If a bomb falls in our country, no one will even notice. They say, “We carried out surgical strikes in Pakistan." Nothing happened—no one saw any surgical strike, and nobody knew anything about it)," Channi, a former Punjab Chief Minister, said at a press conference after the Congress Working Committee meeting in the national capital.

As the controversy erupted over his remarks, Channi said that the Congress stands with the government on the issue of the Pahalgam attack.

“There is nothing about surgical (strike) today. Its proof is not asked for, and I am not asking for it either. What I am saying is that don’t try to divert this (Pahalgam Terrorist Attack). This is a very sensitive issue. Tu idhar udhar ki baat matt kar, bata ki kaafila luta kyun…The innocent tourists who were killed after being asked about their religion – country and those families want justice today. Government should provide them justice. We are with the Government in every way," he said.

BJP Reacts To Channi’s Remarks

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey lashed out at the Congress MP with a poem in Hindi.

“After the Congress meeting, senior leader Charanjit Channi is calling the Indian government’s surgical strike a lie," he posted on X.

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini criticised Channi’s remarks as “unfortunate", saying he was speaking the language of some other place rather than his own. “Can’t he see such a big attack? He could not even see the Uri attack?" Saini said.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, in a press conference, criticised Channi for taunting the Prime Minister and said Congress was “supplying oxygen" to Pakistan and terrorist forces. Accusing Congress of demoralising armed forces, Patra said the party was actually PWC (Pakistan Working Committee).

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said Congress is hurting the morale of the Indian Army at a time when the country was united to give a befitting reply to terrorists behind the Pahalgam terror attack. “Congress has become Pakistan Parast Party (PPP)," he said.

BJP’s Ravinder Raina accused the Congress of “treachery" by raising questions on the valour and the honour of the Indian Army and the 2016 surgical strikes. “Congress is a gang of traitors… The nation will never forgive the Congress party for this," he added.

News politics ‘Nothing Happened’: Channi Questions Surgical Strike, BJP Says 'Congress Supply Oxygen To Pakistan'