Nirmala Sitharaman cites social media hoax as she attacks Pakistan on 27 February dogfight

New Delhi: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Tuesday relied on a social media hoax as she echoed questions raised by the armed forces and strategic experts about the identity of the Pakistan pilot involved in the 27 February dogfight between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

A viral social media post attributed to a UK-based lawyer had claimed on 28 February that the dogfight, triggered by a PAF intrusion across the Line of Control, involved sons of retired air marshals on both sides.

It also claimed that the PAF pilot — flying an F-16 downed by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman before his own MiG-21 Bison crashed into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) — was lynched by a Pakistani mob on the suspicion that he was an Indian pilot.

The post has since been debunked, as it was discovered that both sons of the retired Pakistan air marshal in question were settled abroad and neither was in the PAF.

But Pakistan has yet to identify the pilot, a fact reminiscent of Islamabad’s failure to acknowledge over 400 martyrs of the Kargil war for years.

Referring to the social media post at an AajTak event in New Delhi, Sitharaman said it was sad that Pakistan never accepted the loss of its own soldiers.

“It has been a constant policy then [during Kargil] and now also, not to accept losses. And hence, this time, why would they accept that F-16 was shot down?” she said. “It was knocked down by us.”

‘Story of two pilots’

The 27 February dogfight was followed by hours of confusion after Pakistan initially claimed to have two pilots of the IAF in custody, saying one of them was in hospital.

Footage on social media subsequently showed Wing Commander Varthaman in Pakistan army’s custody. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a press address that afternoon, said the country had apprehended “Indian pilots”, but the country’s military spokesperson clarified in the evening that they just had one Indian pilot in custody.

There’s been no word since on the pilot of the Pakistan F-16 that crashed during the dogfight, even as Wing Commander Varthaman returned to a hero’s welcome in India.

Weighing in on the sequence of events, Sitharaman noted that the Pakistan prime minister had referred to “pilots”. “One of the pilots was returned to us under norms, but who is the second one?” she asked.

Then she brought up the hoax, which became the subject of several news media reports before being proved wrong.

“I don’t want to rely on social media, but you all must have seen on social media that some Pakistani retired air marshal is himself saying that the story is about two pilots,” she added.

“I am talking as a defence minister… This is a social media post and I have not double-checked the source, but… I want to raise this question, whether this is true or false,” she said, offering details of the post.

“It was the story of two pilots. Two very trained, top pilots of the country, both sons of retired air marshal, both fell into Pakistani territory. One returned but they are not even claiming the second…” Sitharaman said.

“The truth is that the other pilot was lynched by the villagers mistaking him to be an Indian pilot. And he was admitted in hospital. I don’t think he survived,” she added.

“But Pakistan is in denial and they don’t claim him. It is also being said two pilots ejected from the F-16. So where is the second one?”

Saying Pakistan will never acknowledge the pilot, Sithraman added that the armed forces code dictated they “say proudly that he died for country. He got martyred for Pakistan”.

“They never do it… sad story,” she added.

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