False Social Media Posts on ‘Muslim Regiment’
Veterans on Muslim Regiment
Admiral L Ramdas, PVSM,AVSM,VrC,VSM
Former Chief of the Naval
Staff
Magsaysay Awardee
Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar
Sept 24 2020
Dear
Veteran,
There are a number of social media posts which are doing the rounds,
propagating the falsehood that the soldiers of a ‘Muslim Regiment’ of our
Indian Army had refused to fight against the Pakistan Army during the 1965
India-Pakistan war, and the ‘Muslim Regiment’ was therefore disbanded (the word
used in the tweets is ‘dismantled’).
We all know that there never was a Muslim Regiment in our Army and that many
Muslim soldiers have fought against Pakistan and continue to defend our country
shoulder-to-shoulder with soldiers of other religions. Indeed in 1965, CQMH
Abdul Hamid was awarded PVC, and Maj (later Lt Gen) Mohammad Zaki and Maj Abdul
Rafey Khan (posthumously) were awarded VrC.
Lieutenant General Mohammad Ahmed Zaki
----
These ‘Muslim Regiment’ social media posts are probably part of the ‘psyops’ – psychological operations - of Pakistan’s ISPR, or indeed of the many groups named in the various social media posts referred to in the text of our Open Letter. Whatever be the source, these allegations are clearly designed to generate ill will and raise suspicions against Muslims in general, and lower the morale of our Armed Forces.
Some of us have prepared and already signed a Letter [please scroll down] with
the subject “False Social Media Posts on ‘Muslim Regiment’”, addressed to the
President of India (as Supreme Commander of our Armed Forces), requesting that
the matter be investigated for suitable action, in the larger interest of
National Security. In the letter, we have quoted many references of Twitter
& Facebook posts even as recently as 20 Sep 2020.
The Letter will be sent by E-mail to the addressees on 5 Oct 2020.
If you decide to endorse the letter after reading it [please scroll down], you
will need to do so before 2200-hrs on 03 Oct 2020, so that signatures can be
compiled and arranged.
Your endorsement needs to be done by filling in your details of Rank, Name,
Regiment/ Unit/ Service and Decorations (if any), on the Google Sheet which
accompanies the Letter.
After the addressees have received the E-mailed Letter, it will be released to
the media.
Jai Hind!
Admiral
L. Ramdas
24 September 2020
To:
The President of India, Supreme
Commander of Indian Armed Forces
Cc:
Vice-President of India / Speaker of Rajya Sabha
Speaker of Lok Sabha
Chief Justice of India
Prime Minister of India
Union Minister of Defence
Union Minister for Home Affairs
Chief of Defence Staff
Chief of the Army Staff
Chief of Naval Staff
Chief of Air Staff
By Email to:
secy.president@rb.nic.in; presidentofindia@rb.nic.in; pmosb@pmo.nic.in; vpindia@sansad.nic.in; speakerloksabha@sansad.nic.in; pmindia@pmindia.nic.in; rmo@mod.nic.in; mos-defence@gov.in; secy-defence@nic.in; defsecy@nic.in; mhaweb@mhant.delhi.nic.in; supremecourt@hub.nic.in; cds.sectt@gov.in;
webmaster.indianarmy@nic.in; coas-india@nic.in; cns-india@nic.in; cas-india@nic.in;
Subject: FALSE SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS on
‘MUSLIM REGIMENT’
Sir,
We, the signatories, are all Veterans of the Indian Armed Forces, who have
served in the defence of our nation in various ranks and appointments in
peacetime and in operational/war zones, over the past several decades. We do
not represent any group or political party, and each of us only has the best
interest of our country and our Armed Forces at heart in making this Statement.
We therefore request that our respectful
comments, requests and urgings in the following paragraphs be taken in that
spirit alone.
We wish to draw your attention to the outright falsehoods being spread by
forces inimical to our country and our Armed Forces, which will adversely
affect morale and national security. We specifically refer to a number of
social media posts to the effect that a ‘Muslim Regiment’ of the Indian Army
refused to fight against Pakistan in India’s 1965 war with Pakistan, and was
therefore disbanded. When we refer to ‘soldiers’, we mean All Ranks of India’s
Army, Navy and Air Force.
These falsehoods began in 2013, when @120croreHindus - ‘World Hindus United’
posted the following on Twitter on 19 May 2013 at 9:57AM: “In 1965 there was a
regiment in Indian Army called Muslim regiment which refused to fight against
Pakistan after which it was dismantled." [https://mobile.twitter.com/120crorehindus/status/335975010877464576?lang=en]
The tweet was meant to show that Muslim soldiers had their loyalties to
Pakistan rather than India. The ‘Muslim Regiment’ post has been re-tweeted many
times thereafter, and its insidious surfacing during the on-going Chinese
aggression, is certainly suspect.
The hundreds of such tweets cannot be included in this letter, so examples
mentioning social-media identity, date-time and social media channel are
provided below, beginning with the most recent:
(1) @Shwaami1 Swami Bijay Puri Maharaj on 20Sep2020;6.36AM on Twitter
(https://twitter.com/Shwaami1/status/1307486194377404416),
(2) @gurjar436 vinod.gurjar on 18Sep2020;1:19PM on Twitter (https://twitter.com/gurjar436/status/1306862884866023424),
(3) @ComondoDhruv SuperCommondoDhruv on 16Sep2020;9:55AM on Twitter (https://twitter.com/ComondoDhruv/status/1306086906241802243),
(4) @Alostinsane Abhishek Shukla on 16Sep2020 on BBC News <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9HFyDLPirg>
at 0.10-min
(5) @Thekhushbo Khushboo Mishra 16Sep2020;1:39PM on Twitter (https://twitter.com/Thekhushbo/status/1306143221068693505),
(6) @FansYati Narsinghanand Saraswati ji Maharaj on 15Sep2020;12:54PM on
Twitter (https://twitter.com/Thekhushbo/status/1306143221068693505),
(7) @DK_Dube on 15Sep2020;11:29AM on Twitter (https://twitter.com/DK_Dube/status/1305748118030426112),
(8) RK Dessai on 03Apr2020;09:04h on Facebook (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2984184964972200&id=100001421761005),
(9) Ashish Bisht on 03Feb2020;14:43h on Facebook (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=535568030636952&id=100025512800441),
(10) Yash Raghav on 21Dec2019;18:19h on Facebook (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=700170750506750&id=100015414943960),
(11) @rambagree1970 Arnath Hiranyavarn on 16Oct2019;1:41PM on Twitter (https://twitter.com/rambagree1970/status/1184381452336517121),
(12) Bharamal Gadhavi on 31Aug2019;15:06h with Youtube on Facebook (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1025583231124504&id=100010185107679),
(13) Sanjay Bidani on 26Mar2019;20:43h on Facebook (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10214034927811841&id=1370731661),
(14) Manjunath Khot on 26Apr2018;03:46h on Facebook (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1936201699747298&id=100000724616476),
(15) Kamesh @kamesh_gadia on 01Feb2018;9:29PM on Twitter (https://twitter.com/kamesh_gadia/status/959093852568104960?s=08),
(16) ABP Live ‘Viral Sach’ on 02Nov2017;18:20h on Facebook (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2003440843007263&id=759078590776834),
(17) @rbatra01 on 27Jul2017;5:37PM on Twitter (https://twitter.com/rbatra01/status/890544164357550082?s=08),
(18) Pradhan Singh on 28Oct2017;03:17M on Twitter (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1976094619303714&id=100007095850063).
These ‘Muslim Regiment’ posts are blatantly false, because the Indian Army did
not have a Muslim Regiment in 1965 or since. Some senior-ranking Veterans have
unequivocally pointed out the false nature of these posts. Veteran Lt Gen
S.A.Hasnain in his Times of India blog of 30 Nov 2017, states that this was not
true, and was possibly part of Pakistan’s Inter Services Public Relations
(ISPR) psyops disinformation campaign. [“The ‘missing’ Muslim regiment: Without
comprehensive rebuttal, Pakistani propaganda dupes the gullible across the
board”; <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/the-missing-muslim-regiment-without-comprehensive-rebuttal-pakistani-propaganda-dupes-the-gullible-across-the-board/>].
We further wish to point out that Muslims fighting as part of multi-class
regiments proved their absolute commitment to the cause of our nation. For
example, Quartermaster Havildar Abdul Hamid was posthumously awarded Param Vir
Chakra, for his courage and valiance in the Battle of Asal Uttar during the
1965 India-Pakistan War. Also in the 1965 war, Major (later Lt Gen) Mohammad
Zaki and Major Abdul Rafey Khan were both awarded Vir Chakra, the latter
posthumously, when he fought against the Pakistani division commanded by his own
uncle, Maj Gen Sahibzada Yaqub Khan. Such are the legends of Muslim Warriors
Even earlier, at partition in 1947, when his Baluch Regiment went to Pakistan,
Brigadier Mohammad Usman chose to remain in the Indian Army. He was approached
personally by Jinnah to move to Pakistan, but he refused. He fought the
Pakistani invasion in Kashmir, was the senior-most officer killed in action in
July 1948, and was posthumously awarded Mahavir Chakra for his gallantry. He
lies buried in the Jamia Millia Islamia campus in Delhi and remains an
inspiration to students who throng the annual memorial service that India’s
Parachute Regiment conducts to honour the gallant paratrooper.
Saying that Muslim soldiers of this so-called ‘Muslim Regiment’ refused to
fight the war against Pakistan in 1965 and hence the ‘Muslim Regiment’ was
disbanded, denigrates and questions the loyalty of all serving and retired
Muslim soldiers. Further, it helps the enemy by striking at the morale of
India’s soldiers to degrade their operational capability.
Our soldiers fight shoulder-to-shoulder as a Team at every level of all
military functioning and operations from the Section and Platoon level up to
the highest level, based upon mutual trust, respect, comradeship and
fraternity, regardless of the religion, language, caste, etc. of other members
of the Team. Social media posts like the ‘Muslim Regiment’ posts put in the
public domain are an insidious attack on the morale of our Armed Forces. It
generates doubt in the public mind that if Muslim soldiers cannot be trusted,
then other Muslims too are no different. It exacerbates mistrust and hate
between communities.
The ill-motivated ‘Muslim Regiment’ posts on social media have far more reach
among the public than a few denials by senior Veterans like Lt Gen Hasnain, and
hence cause serious damage to the morale of soldiers and to the social fabric
of our diverse nation.
When falsehoods like the ‘Muslim Regiment’ posts are repeated often as they
have been, starting perhaps in 2013, the public assumes that it is the truth,
especially when there is no official action against the perpetrators.
It may well be the cause at least in part, to the increasing anti-Muslim
feeling among the Indian public since that time. It may show the success of the
psychological warfare waged by enemies of the Republic of India, through agents
like those who have tweeted about the ‘Muslim Regiment’. It needs no emphasis
that social unrest adversely affects the morale of soldiers who are far away
from their families, doing their duty to defend our borders, at daily risk to
life and limb.
The ‘Muslim Regiment’ posts are an attack on India’s Armed Forces. Remaining
a-political and secular has been an article of faith for every soldier, sailor
and airman, both at the institutional and individual levels. Every soldier
swears to protect the Constitution of India even at peril to his/her life in
the service of our nation, and serves in harsh and high-risk field service
conditions. He/she also endorses the principle of civil control over India’s Armed Forces, Which Have Loyally Upheld Constitutional
Democratic Principles.
Today, our soldiers are facing the Chinese aggression in Aksai Chin and also
elsewhere, while the threat from Pakistan remains, and our troops additionally
remain deployed for internal security duties. While in any situation, the
‘Muslim Regiment’ posts would be condemnable, in the current situation on our
borders it is especially so, calling for serious attention of Government and
expeditious action to counter Pakistan’s propaganda.
In light of the foregoing and in the national interest, we earnestly urge
impartial, firm and immediate action as follows:
# Investigate the antecedents of individuals who have made ‘Muslim Regiment’
posts.
# Identify and charge individuals who have made ‘Muslim Regiment’ posts for
anti-national activities.
# Issue warning to the social media providers (Facebook & Twitter) who have
enabled ‘Muslim Regiment’ posts.
# Issue immediate instructions to all state governments that the generation of
false and seditious messages in social media should be acted upon with alacrity
so as to not jeopardize national security.
We further appeal to you to ensure that the secular and a-political character
of our Armed Forces is preserved, and to adhere unwaveringly to the vision and
spirit of the Constitution of India, which spells out the framework for our
nation and its people.
As we have done during our active service in the past, we assure you of
standing in solidarity with our nation, the Constitution of India, the
Government of India and our gallant Armed Forces.
We the undersigned, endorse the above
Statement:
Yours
Faithfully,
Admiral L.Ramdas, PVSM,AVSM,VrC,VSM
Major General SG Vombatkere, VSM
Brigadier Deepak Grover
Colonel Pavan Nair, VSM
Colonel Shashi Thomas
Colonel EJ Sanchis
Colonel Dinesh Kumar
Group Captain Philips Jacob, VM
Group Captain BC Christopher
Lieutenant Colonel Johnson Thomas
Lieutenant Colonel Anil Suri
Lieutenant Colonel Riyaz Khan
Wing Commander AN Hanfee, VrC
Major Priyadarshi Chowdhury, SC
Major MG Devasahayam
Flight Lieutenant Rajiv Tyagi
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