FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 12 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR | Saturday, 04 October 2025 Hold Pak accountable: MEA after PoK protests IAF chief: Radars, runways, hangars hit, Pakistan forced to seek ceasefire STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE The chief of staff of the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, tore into Islamabad on Friday with a blunt reminder of India’s military might, declaring that during Operation Sindoor the enemy was “brought to their knees in just one night”. He asserted that the strike left Pakistan so battered that it was forced to seek a ceasefire after suffering extensive damage. Addressing the annual press conference held here on Friday, the Air Chief said that the Indian Air Force struck a large number of Pakistan’s airfields and installations in the strikes carried out during Op Sindoor. Outlining the damage inflicted on Pakistan, the IAF chief said: “As far as Pakistan’s losses are concerned, we have struck a large number of their airfields and we struck a large Yunus govt should probe acts of violence: MEA New Delhi, 3 October I n a sharp reaction to the ongoing civilian protests in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), India on Friday said the unrest is a natural consequence of Pakistan's oppressive approach and its systemic plundering of resources from these territories, which remain under its forcible and illegal occupation. The government further said that the neighbouring country must be held accountable for its horrific human rights violations. During his weekly media briefing in New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “We have seen reports on protests in several areas of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, including brutalities AGENCIES New Delhi, 3 October People protest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. by Pakistani forces on innocent civilians...We believe that it is a natural consequence of Pakistan’s oppressive approach and systemic plundering of resources from these territories, which remain under its forcible and illegal occupation. Pakistan must be held accountable for its horrific human rights violations.” “Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are inalienable parts of India, will remain and have FILE PHOTO always been part of India. Those territories (PoK) are our inalienable part,” he said. The statement comes after several people, including police personnel, were killed and dozens injured during the ongoing violent clashes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir that began during the strike called by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) for reforms and public facilities in the region. India on Friday slammed the recent remarks made by Bangladesh’s Home Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury alleging New Delhi’s hand in recent violence in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government has a habit of routinely diverting attention from internal failures, and it should investigate the actions of local extremists committing atrocities against the minorities in the country. PARWINDER SANDHU New Delhi, 3 October number of installations. Because of these strikes, radars at at least four places, command and control centres at two places, runways of course damaged at two places, then three of their hangars in three different stations have been damaged. We have signs of one C-130 class of aircraft… and at least 4 to 5 fighter aircraft, most likely F-16, because that place happened to be F-16 with whatever was under maintenance at that time.” “Along with that, one SAM system has been destroyed. We have clear evidence of one long-range strike, which I talked about, more than 300 km, which happened to be either an AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) or a SIGINT aircraft, along with those five high-tech fighters between F-16 and JF 17 class, this is what our system tells us,” Air Chief Marshal Singh added. On the ceasefire announced on 10 May following four days of cross border action, the IAF chief said: “A clear directive, clear mandate was given to the Indian Armed Forces. It stands as a lesson which will go down in history that this is one war that was started with a very clear objective and it was terminated in a quick time without just prolonging it.” ‘Manohar Kahaniyan’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 3 October Mocking Pakistan for engaging in a series of false narratives pertaining to downing Indian fighter jets during Operation Sindoor, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh called it “Manohar Kahaniyan” (fanciful tales) to mislead its public. Recently, at the United Nations General Assembly, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had claimed his forces had shot down seven Indian jets during Operation Sindoor. “If they think they shot down 15 of my jets, let them think about it. I hope they’re convinced about it, and they will cater for 15 less aircraft in my inventory when they come to fight again,” Air Chief Marshal Singh said on Friday.