So as the whole of India welcomed the Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman after he was released by Pakistani authorities on March 1 there was perhaps a consensus among most of the Indians that they’ll believe their jingoistic media about this captured pilot’s alleged heroics.
Their celebrities too joined the circus and started terming him a hero and a “Majboot Jawan” (strong man) despite the fact that his plane was downed and he was captured by Pakistan Air Force in an operation.
As villagers caught him and started beating him, Pakistani soldiers came to his rescue and saved him from a possible lynching.
But Indian celebrities are Indian celebrities and Indian media is Indian, so they all started showering praise on him despite his clear failure.
As expected, their celebrities too joined the bandwagon and started tweeting on the #WelcomHomeAbhinandan trend only to be ridiculed and schooled by the Twitterati.
Trolls are trolls but even Australian cricket journalist Dennis Freedman couldn’t stop himself from schooling Indian star cricketer Virat Kohli when he posted an image on Instagram to pay “tribute” to the IAF wing commander.
As Kohli termed Abhinadan his “real hero”, Dennis Freedman had to step in and remind the star batsman that Imran Khan not Abhinandan is the real hero in this situation.
“What exactly did he do to make himself a hero except for lose a million dollar plane, hide behind the Pakistani army when locals where kicking him and grow mad facial hair. Imran Khan is the only hero here. With one kind act he defused Modi’s war rhetoric,” wrote Dennis Freedman.
IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan was captured by Pakistan’s armed forces after his MiG 21 Bison aircraft was shot down by a PAF jet on February 27.
The very next day, PM Imran Khan announced that Pakistan will release him on March 1, Friday as a peace gesture.
The IAF pilot was handed over to India at the Wagah border on March 1. He was filmed walking across the Wagah pavilion at around 9pm in civilian clothes.
The pilot was accompanied to the border by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
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