No, Washington Post Did Not Publish This Report on Pannun Staging Attack on Self

The Washington Post's India Bureau Chief clarified that the screenshot did not show an authentic article.

A screenshot showing a purported article by The Washington Post, which talks about Sikhs for Justice founder and Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun staging an attack on himself to implicate India is being shared on social media.

This screenshot went viral on X and Facebook.

(Archives of these claims can be found here and here.)

What is the truth? The Washington Post article being circulated is fake and has been digitally altered.

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How did we find the truth?: We searched The Washington Post's website for the article in the screenshot and found that it did not exist.

• However, during a relevant keyword search we located the original article on The Washington Post website, titled, 'An assassination plot on American soil reveals a darker side of Modi’s India'.

• Upon a side-by-side comparison of the original article and the viral screenshot, it is evident that the viral screenshot has been digitally altered.

• We also conducted a keyword search on X to find similar claims.

• We came across an X post by Gerry Shih, the India Bureau Chief for The Washington Post, as well as one of the authors of the original article.

• His post calls out that the article in the claim, confirming that the viral post has been altered.

🚨The viral post below is photoshopped, NOT a @washingtonpost story

Unfortunately, it already has 3.2K retweets—another Wednesday for the Indian social media disinfo factory

Fortunately, you can read the real story w this gift link and help share it: https://t.co/k30LErYx6r pic.twitter.com/UzMHwRn5yK

— Gerry Shih (@gerryshih) August 21, 2024

Context: In November 2023, the US reportedly foiled a plot to assassinate Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil, allegedly involving Indian operatives.

• Following the incident, the US issued a diplomatic warning to India, raising concerns about India's involvement.

• The Washington Post published an article in April discussing India's alleged involvement in assassinating overseas leaders of the Khalistani separatist movement.

• A day after the Washington Post article was released, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs claimed that the Washington Post story had made “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter”.

Conclusion: A fake screenshot is being shared to claim that The Washington Post reported on Pannun faking an attack on himself to implicate the Indian government.

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