Australian cricket journalist Dennis Freedman, who is known for his love for Pakistan and trolling India over Twitter, has hosted “world’s biggest tea party” to mark the first anniversary of Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman’s capture following an aerial dog fight in 2019.
The nation on Thursday honoured the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), which countered Indian strikes exactly a year ago in response to India’s violation of Pakistan airspace during the post-Pulwama stand-off.
Ahead of the celebrations, a group of local and foreign media journalists visited for the first time, the area in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) where the air force downed an Indian aircraft near the Line of Control (LoC) last year.
On February 27 last year, warplanes from both sides had engaged in a dogfight along the LoC in Kashmir. The PAF had downed an Indian aircraft and arrested Abhinandan. But a day later, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had announced his release as a goodwill gesture.
With a viral video showing Abhinandan praising officers of the Pakistan Army for being “professional and thorough gentlemen” while having “fantastic” tea served to him under their custody, the words ‘tea’ and ‘fantastic’ repeatedly made headlines for their meanings being changed for good in Pakistan.
The catchphrase also became the top trend on social media as Pakistan celebrated the first anniversary of the series of events from last year on Thursday, and Dennis, who is in the country to cover the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL), tweeted a video saying he was hosting the “world’s biggest tea party”.
He said that people did not need to be in Pakistan with him to join the party, urging people to share their images and videos enjoying tea.
Here’s how Twitterati responded:
The government had earlier this month also decided to celebrate February 27 as “Surprise Day” to commemorate Operation Swift Retort against the IAF.
