‘Pakistan Zindabad’, Shaan calls out ex-Indian army officer for spreading fake news

Pakistani actor Shaan Shahid reacted to a viral picture from his movie ‘Yalghaar’ after an ex-Indian army officer tweeted a photo of Pakistani actors, falsely claiming that they were Pakistani soldiers who had been martyred in Panjshir Valley in Afghanistan. Apart from Shaan, others actors in the picture include Umair Jaswal and Bilal Ashraf.

Shaan responded to the tweet by sharing his movie poster and said, “Hello from the other side. Pakistan Zindabaad!”

Hello from the other side..🇵🇰zindabaad pic.twitter.com/hPX58ntTxC

— Shaan Shahid (@mshaanshahid) September 11, 2021

Umair Jaswal also made fun of the picture. He tweeted, “Hello dear! From Pakistan.”

Hello dear 😂 @GeneralBakshi @dpkpillay12
From Pakistan ❤ pic.twitter.com/Vvl5TItQBv

— Umair Jaswal (@umairjaswal) September 11, 2021

The confusion started after a former Indian army officer, Maj Gen GD Bakshi, claimed on Twitter that the Pakistan Army had suffered heavy casualties in Panjshir Valley.

A Twitter user mocked Bakshi by sharing a picture from the set of Pakistani movie ‘Yalghaar’ and wrote: “My class fellow from school days Maj Aijaj 2nd from left and Capt Jufar 1st from left embraced martyrdom in Panjshir. They were buried yesterday in Peshawar. ISPR is trying to hide these casualties. They fought bravely and should be honoured as such. This is injustice by Pak Army.”

My class fellow from school days Maj Aijaj 2nd from left and Capt Jufar 1st from left embraced martyrdom in Panjshir. They were buried yesterday in Peshawar. ISPR is trying to hide these casualties. They fought bravely and should be honoured as such. This is injustice by Pak Army pic.twitter.com/sOx16xpAol

— Disgruntled Doc (@Fauji_Doctor) September 10, 2021

Following the false claim, an Indian general Lt Gen H S Panag(R) criticised his own general.

Ouch!
Ex-Indian army officer shares picture from movie set as ‘truth’ about Pakistan Army’s presence in Panjshir https://t.co/wQ1uwiLpWp

— Lt Gen H S Panag(R) (@rwac48) September 13, 2021

Earlier, an Afghan journalist mistook Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Aamir Liaquat as a martyred soldier in Afghanistan.

Indian news channels, Republic TV, and Zee Hindustan ran visuals from a video game — Arma-3 — stating that it was the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) attacking the anti-Taliban fighters.

Then a Twitter user shared a picture of a fighter jet, claiming that a PAF plane was shot down in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley. Later, a fact-check by Dawn showed that the picture is actually from 2018 in the United States.

Bakshi, who has had a long career in the Indian army, is known for spreading fake news. An article by Indian publication The Print last year referred to him as the “shrillest warmonger in the media”, as per Dawn.