Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Who is speaking the truth?' that was published in Newsband

Who is speaking the truth?

A cropped version of a satellite image shows a close-up of a madrasa near Balakot, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, on March 4, 2019. This is according to Planet Labs Inc, a San Francisco-based private satellite operator. The images produced by the lab show at least six buildings on the madrasa site on March 4, six days after the air strike, says Reuters. There are no discernible holes in the roofs of buildings, no signs of scorching, blown-out walls, displaced trees or other signs of an aerial attack, says Reuters, quoting the lab.

The Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of India did not reply. The town of Balakot, was supposed to have been targeted by the Indian Air Force on February 26, 2019. But the high-resolution images don't show any evidence of bomb damage. Though the government of India has not publicly disclosed what weapons were used in the air strike, sources told Reuters last week that 12 Mirage 2000 jets carrying 1,000 kg bombs carried out the attack. On Tuesday, a defence official said the aircraft used the 2,000-lb Israeli-made SPICE 2000 glide bomb in the strike. Now the weapons that large would have caused obvious damage to the structures visible in the picture.

Pakistan has disputed India's account, saying the operation was a failure that saw Indian jets, under pressure from Pakistani planes, drop their bombs on a largely empty hillside. Extensive interviews with people in the surrounding area revealed that there was no evidence found of a destroyed camp or of anyone being killed.

Who should we believe? Our Air force or USA private media? Also where is the April 2018 photo for everyone to compare?  It is true that the Government of India never gave any statement regarding bombing of Madrasas in Pakistan. Our forces have targeted only the terrorist camp with precision of highest order.

 There does seem to be signs of damage by penetration of something on the top left hand side of image. It is the is hardened bunkers housing Fidayeen  of JeM that IAF was after and  not some tin sheds. Bunker buster bombs don't show much external damage. There are several vested interests in discrediting the precision strike.

It is believed that the sites populated with civilians were deliberately avoided, lest any action to damage and cause death to human beings would invite international criticism. However, it is a good warning that IAF could, at will, penetrate into Paki territory and cause destruction of all sites that could be a danger to our country.

Should we believe Air Chief Marshall's press briefing where he categorically said that all targets were hit successfully Or the opinions of so called paid experts, who will say different things. May be what our Air Chief says is the truth, everything else is a propaganda.