Pak Media Misreads Sidhu’s Tweet on Indian Army, Spreads Fake News

Sidhu’s tweet read “Army is as sacred as the state”, which appears to have been misread by the channel as “scared.”

CLAIM

A Pakistani news channel Dunya News on Tuesday, 5 March, reported that Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu had launched a fresh attack on the Modi government, this time by saying that the "Indian Army was scared."

In a video, the anchor mentions that Sidhu, via a tweet, had said that the Indian Army was scared, thereby targeting the government.

.If #CongressHelpingBJP it's still politics.

But When @capt_amarinder tolerates @sherryontopp after he Says "Indian Army is Scared of Pak Army" to settle political scores with @narendramodi, I feel gutted.

How can Capt saab hv him in his Ministry? #PunishPakloyalists pic.twitter.com/W34fbjBmfY

— Raman (@being_delhite) March 5, 2019

Soon after the channel’s reportage, several people took to lash out at Sidhu over his purported comments.

@sherryontopp Do you really think #IndianArmy is scared ??
Cc @adgpi @TajinderBagga @MajorPoonia @majorgauravarya @GeneralBakshi pic.twitter.com/zbP1y8muRn

— Raj🇮🇳 (@Raj4NewIndia) March 5, 2019

Those who says Indian Army is scared ,come and give a try. @sherryontopp How much u r paid to organize the event in a railway track where u know ur wife is the chief guest?? Was it not a Pak propaganda to kill civilians without using bullets? Jai Hind 🙏 @republic @ArnabGoswame

— Abinasha Dalai🇮🇳🙏 (@AbiDalai) March 5, 2019

TRUE OR FALSE?

This is false, Sidhu never did say anything of the sort. Since the channel mentioned that Sidhu had tweeted something to this effect, we checked the Congress leader's timeline for the said tweet.

The only tweet Sidhu had made on 5 March concerning the army was this:

Army is as sacred as the state!

Stop politicising the top institutions for political motives.
Made a puppet of CBI, arm-twisted the RBI, covert operations of RAW exposed and the judiciary’s reprimand.

For God sake leave the army to fight battles... not elections! pic.twitter.com/bzKjrYAR3v

— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) March 5, 2019

Sidhu's tweet reads "Army is as sacred as the state", which appears to have been misread by the channel as "scared."

People on Twitter also pointed out the error in Dunya News' report.

Not sure if it's because of Bad intent or bad English, Pakistan Media is quoting #NavjotSiddhu saying #Indian Army is Scared whereas what Siddhu said is Indian Army is Sacred.
Not here but otherwise Siddhu been a disgrace. Not sure why Captain is tolerating him. pic.twitter.com/oFdwUvuFi2

— Arshit Pathak (@arshpath) March 6, 2019

They are reporting his tweet 'Indian Army is Sacred' as Scared 😂https://t.co/0DrqHhRxoE

— Rakesh Khyadi (@RaaknRoll) March 5, 2019

Sacred vs Scared.https://t.co/gsvvSHIdLw

— Arvind Maheshwari अरविंद माहेश्वरी,,🇮🇳 (@arvind_Navy) March 5, 2019

Dunya News's misreporting was first called out by OpIndia, following which the channel appears to have deleted its tweet and the corresponding story on the site.

In fact, while the url of the now redacted story reads "Navjot-Singh-Sidhu-again-criticizes-Modi-govt-through-twitter", the video on the page is of Pakistani parliamentarians' opinion on the government's initiative to ban outfits.

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