-Bizarre allegation against Pakistan
DM Monitoring
ISLAMABAD: Twitterati on either side of the India-Pakistan border are having a field day after a top Indian army commander, in a bizarre interview, claimed that the Pakistan Army was trying to infiltrate coronavirus infected patients into Indian Occupied Kashmir.
But Lieutenant General Baggavalli Somashekar Raju, the Indian military’s top man deputed in the disputed valley, responded with “intelligence reports” when asked to back up the allegation. Social media users from across the border were quick to jump on the trolling bandwagon with Indian author and former army officer Prawin Sawhney questioning how the interview was aired as serious journalism. He went on to say that he was baffled by how the high-ranking general made the accusation bereft of any evidence. “Jawans do such talks in langar (eating halls),” he tweeted.
Rajiv Kumar, another user, said the interview was a manifestation of the “deep-seated incompetence and Pakistan-phobia within the ranks of the Indian Army.” A third, who goes by the handle of Shhhh, poured cold water on Gen Raju’s theory that Pakistan had assembled infected terrorists for infiltration.
“But covid affects respiratory system which means that terrorists won’t be physically fit to run..,” he tweeted.
Another account, associated with a terrorism expert, had an unexpected yet, for many, a plausible explanation. The user, with the handle Kh khalid Farooq, suggested one explanation for the bizarre claim could be that the Indian general was a fan of Bollywood thrillers, known for outlandish plots and story lines that often have no semblance to reality.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Army was quick to rubbish the accusation, deeming it “delusional”.
The military’s media wing suggested that New Delhi should focus on resolving their internal issues arising out of COVID-19 lockdown.
“Indian 15 Corps Comd interview with BBC – 13 Apr 2020: Indian insinuations about infiltration and CFVs by Pakistan are not only baseless but are also patently designed to divert global and domestic attention from the unending fiasco post – 5 Aug 2019,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) tweeted.
“No less delusional are the allegations about Pakistan infiltrating Covid-affected individuals into IOJK,” the military’s media wing said in another tweet.
