The Press Information Bureau’s (PIB) fact-check unit has dismissed a viral social media claim suggesting that the last rites of an Indian Air Force (IAF) Rafale pilot were conducted following alleged casualties during Operation Sindoor.
On Thursday, PIB flagged multiple Pakistan-based accounts that circulated an old image, claiming it depicted the funeral of a Rafale pilot who supposedly died on May 7. The unit clarified that the image in question is from 2008 and has no connection to recent events.
“An old image is going viral on social media, with many Pakistan-based accounts claiming that it shows the last rites of a Rafale pilot of the #IndianAirForce who died on May 7. This claim is completely fake. The image is actually from 2008 and unrelated to the current context,” PIB Fact Check posted on X.
The image, sourced from a 2008 CNN article on emissions from Hindu funeral pyres, actually shows a mass cremation of 15 schoolgirls on the banks of the River Orsang in Bamroli, Gujarat, on April 16, 2008.
Operation Sindoor, launched by India on May 7, was a decisive military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 civilians were killed. In retaliation, the Indian Armed Forces carried out precision strikes on terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), resulting in the elimination of over 100 terrorists linked to groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen.
Following the strikes, Pakistan attempted retaliation through cross-border shelling and drone attacks, prompting a second wave of coordinated Indian strikes. These targeted and damaged Pakistan’s radar systems, communication hubs, and airfields across 11 bases.
On Saturday, May 10, India and Pakistan reached a mutual understanding to cease hostilities and de-escalate tensions along the border.
(With inputs from ANI)
