NEW DELHI: Amidst the volatile situation with the Indian Military given the operational freedom to respond to the Pahalgam terror strike, fake news regarding the unceremonious removal of Lt Gen DS Rana was spread on Saturday by Pakistan based media houses and social media accounts.
This trend of false news related to the Indian military began after the terrorists carried out the killings of people in Pahalgam on April 22. The news of removal of Lieutenant General (LT Gen) DS Rana, Indian Military's Director General- Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) was spread by Pakistani channels and social media networks claiming that Lieutenant General Rana had been "sacked" and banished to the Andamans "Kala Pani" linking it to the leak of documents.
The fact, as first reported by TNIE, is that Lt Gen Rana has been promoted to the rank of an Army Commander and will be assuming the command of Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), India's prestigious maiden tri-services operational command.
There is major false news propaganda being spread about the other senior officers who have either superannuated on April 30 or got promoted and posted to new positions.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check on Saturday put out a message on X stating "#Pakistan based News Channel @ARYNEWSOFFICIAL and several pro-Pakistan social media accounts are falsely claiming that Lt Gen DS Rana, Director General Defence Intelligence Agency has been removed from his post and deputed to the Andaman & Nicobar." This claim is fake, it added.
It was followed by another fact check on a fake letter claiming internal rift in the Indian Military.
Three days back fake news was spread against the commander of the high profile Northern Command of the Indian Army, with Pahalgam also coming under its responsibility.
The Press Information Bureau on Wednesday had fact-checked social media rumours suggesting that Northern Army Commander Lt Gen MV Suchindra Kumar was removed from his post following the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that left 26 people dead.
"Several pro-Pakistan social media accounts falsely claim that Northern Commander Lt Gen Suchindra Kumar has been removed from his post after the Pahalgam incident. The claims being made in these posts are fake," PIB's Fact Check unit said in a post on X.
Lt Gen MV Suchindra Kumar took charge as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Indian Army's Northern Command in February 2024, succeeding Gen Upendra Dwivedi, who now serves as the Chief of Army Staff.
Indian Army's Northern Command looks after unique frontiers and varied terrain ranging from plains to super high altitude, as also the normal to extreme weather and climatic conditions with temperatures going to as low as minus 50 to 70 degrees. Under its areas of responsibility come deployments ranging from the plains of Jammu to the Siachen Glacier and further to Eastern Ladakh, and the dynamic internal security situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
As reported by TNIE Lieutenant General Prateek Sharma was approved to take charge as the Commander-in-Chief of the Udhampur-based Northern Command as Lt Gen MV Suchindra Kumar, after completing an illustrious career of four decades in the Indian Army, relinquished the Command of the Indian Army's Northern Command.
General Sharma's appointment comes amid heightened global focus on Jammu and Kashmir following the Pahalgam terror attack.
This surge in fake news started last week with the news of leaked confidential Indian Army documents related to preparedness after the Pahalgam attack last week. The Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check cautioned against it, labelling those documents as "fake."
The Indian government has taken steps to curb fake news. On Monday (April 28) 16 Pakistan-based YouTube channels were banned for promoting provocative and communally sensitive content aimed at India and its security institutions.
