On February 14, 2019, a sinister act of terror tore through the heart of India. A suicide bomber, driven by the ideology of hate, detonated an explosive-laden vehicle targeting a convoy of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir. Forty brave soldiers—sons, fathers, and brothers—were martyred in one of the deadliest attacks on Indian soil in recent memory. The nation froze in collective grief, its soul pierced by the loss of these valiant heroes who laid down their lives for the motherland. For a fleeting moment, India stood united, its people bound by shared sorrow and a burning demand for justice. Political divides blurred as leaders across the spectrum condemned the attack and mourned the fallen. But as India grieved, a different kind of attack began — not from terrorists, but from the entrenched elite: the Lutyens media and their political patrons in the Congress party.

This entrenched elite, long accustomed to wielding unchecked influence over India’s narrative, saw in Pulwama not a moment to honor the fallen but an opportunity to weaponize grief for political gain. Unable to match Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resolute leadership or the government’s decisive response, they launched a vicious campaign of lies, distortions, and character assassination. What should have been a time of national mourning transformed into a battlefield of propaganda, with the Lutyens media and Congress darbaris leading the charge to vilify Modi while shielding the failures of their dynastic scion, Rahul Gandhi. This is the untold story of how a tragedy was hijacked by a desperate elite, exposing their moral bankruptcy and their relentless war against a leader who dared to challenge their stranglehold on power.

The Smear Campaign Begins: As the nation grieved, the Lutyens media—those self-appointed gatekeepers of truth with deep ties to the Congress establishment—abandoned all pretense of journalistic integrity. Instead of honoring the sacrifices of the forty CRPF jawans, they chose to exploit the tragedy to tarnish Modi’s image. Their weapon of choice was a fabricated narrative that painted the Prime Minister as callous and indifferent, allegedly indulging in a leisurely photoshoot at Jim Corbett National Park while the nation mourned. Congress leaders, with their trademark sanctimony, amplified this lie, accusing Modi of sipping tea, munching snacks, and watching crocodiles as the blood of India’s soldiers stained the soil of Pulwama. This vicious smear, eagerly parroted by pliant media houses, went viral, aiming to portray Modi as a leader detached from the pain of his people.

But facts, as they often do, dismantle the edifice of lies. The Discovery Channel shoot, which Congress turned into the centerpiece of their propaganda, took place hours before news of the Pulwama attack reached the government. The images used in Congress’ hastily arranged press conference were timestamped around 1:30 PM, while the first reports of the attack surfaced only after 3:30 PM. This irrefutable timeline exposes the shameless deceit of the opposition and their media allies. Far from indulging in leisure, Modi sprang into action the moment he was informed of the attack. He immediately initiated consultations with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir to coordinate a swift and robust response. Contrast this with the Congress party’s shameful track record—during the 2013 Uttarakhand floods, relief efforts were deliberately delayed to await Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s return from Spain for staged photo opportunities. The hypocrisy is staggering: those who once prioritized political optics over human lives now sought to accuse Modi of negligence and apathy.