Post Gen Rawat’s demise, Pak us ing conspiracy theories to create unrest in India

New Delhi, Dec 16: The sudden death of Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat came as a rude shock. However the disinformation campaign in Pakistan seems to be in overdrive mode suggesting all sorts of conspiracy theories.

Many said that it could be a strike by insurgents, while others called it an internal hit job. One of the most common claims being made by the Pakistanis is that the chopper in which General Rawat was travelling was shot down by the now defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The LTTE was defeated by the Sri Lankan forces in 2009.

These claims were first fact-checked by Logically. The full story can be read here.

On the handle of the Pakistan Strategic Forum, it was said, " Mi-17VS helicopter of Indian Air Force carrying Indian Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat was reportedly shot by Tamil insurgents. The Pakistan Strategic Forum, a blog claims that it is a think-tank. The Tamil Nadu Crime Branch filed a case against this handle, following which the post was withdrawn.

Another handle @shiningsadaf also made a similar claim and said that it was the LTTE that shot down the chopper in which the CDS was travelling. Another user Hamza Azhar Salam said that while some claim that the crash was caused by the LTTE, other sources say that it may be an insider job by the Modi government reflecting a serious command and control crisis in the Indian Armed Forces.

All these claims are completely baseless. Experts have said that bad weather and controlled flying into the terrain may have caused the crash. The Indian Air Force which is probing the crash has said that a report ascertaining the cause of the accident would be out soon. Further the IAF had also urged people not to speculate on the matter.

The tweets from these Pakistan handles are clearly a sustained campaign to put out conspiracy theories with an intention of creating unrest in India. By putting conspiracy theories such as the one relating to the LTTE or the internal hit job, the Pakistanis clearly want to create tensions within India, officials tell OneIndia. They also are trying to create a doubt among the people of the country about the government the official also said.

All these conspiracy theories also led to a Twitter handle @mysterypilot007 saying, 'for all Kashmiri freedom fighters who were burnt alive by using phosphorous bombs. Stay strong, freedom fighters, the Tamil rebels and Khalsas are soon going to join you against India.