We were so close that we could have hoisted Tricolour in Lahore: BJP lawmaker Sangeet Som's bizarre Balakot claim

Every day there are numerous claims and counter claims on the Indian Air Force’s Balakot air strike on February 26 last month. Adding new claim to this is none other than BJP’s controversial MLA Sangeet Som. Addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli, Som claimed that the Indian Air Force jets were just two minutes away from Lahore.

Som claimed that had the IAF planes ‘stayed a little longer’, ‘we could have hoisted the Tricolour in the Pakistani city.’ “Balakot jahan tak hum (our forces) pahunche hain, woh Lahore se bahut nazdeek hai, doston, bahut nazdeek. Itna nazdeek hai ki agar two-minute aur ruk jaate toh jhanda (our national flag) Lahore mein hota,” Som was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The MLA from Sardhana is known for his controversial statements.  In 2017, Som had called the Taj Mahal a blot on Indian culture and history and warned that the names of Mughal emperors would be removed from history. “He is addressing his constituency,” a senior leader had reportedly said.

“Many people were pained to see that the Taj Mahal was removed from the list of [tourist destinations]. What type of history? Is this history that the person who built the Taj Mahal imprisoned his father? Do you call it a history when the one who built the Taj targeted many Hindus in Uttar Pradesh and Hindustan?” Som had said. A two time-sitting MLA, the 41-year-old was born to an affluent Thakur family in Alamgir village (Faridpur) in Meerut district’s Sardhana.

The Indian Air Force carried out pre-dawn airstrikes on February 26 and destroyed major launch pads of the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed, which was behind the February 14 Pulwama terror attack. The initial reports suggested that the ‘Surgical Strike 2.0’ decimated Jaish-e-Mohammed’s Alpha 3 Control Rooms located in Balakot, Muzaffarabad and Chakothi in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. More than 10 bombs were dropped by the multi-role fighter jet Mirage 2000 at around 3:30 am on February 26 morning. Understandably, Pakistan has downplayed the airstrike. The aerial attack came day after Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a high-level meeting with all three service chiefs.