On December 12, Pakistani politician Abdul Rehman Malik narrated wild conspiracy theories during a talk show on Geo News. He was a guest on the talk show titled Jigra hosted by anchor Saleem Safi on Pakistani News Channel Geo News. During the show, he alleged Tamil militants were behind the IAF chopper crash in which former CDS Late Bipin Rawat lost his life with others on board. He also drew several other conspiracy theories about India during the talk show.
‘Tamil Nadus were behind IAF chopper crash because Modi did not like current COAS’, claimed Malik
In the very beginning of the talk show, Malik drew his first conspiracy theory that he apparently has said multiple times since the Indian Air Force’s chopper crashed in Tamil Nadu, resulting in the untimely death of former CDS Late Bipin Rawat and 12 others.
انڈین چیف آف ڈیفنس بپن راوت کے قتل میں کون ملوث ہے؟#Jirga #GeoNews pic.twitter.com/X6i4SijqPZ
— Geo News Urdu (@geonews_urdu) December 12, 2021
He said Bipin Rawat was actively involved in creating unrest in Pakistan with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval. He claimed Rawat also opened several “backdoor channels” to other countries. He said, “Rawat had become a major target of ‘Tamils’ because of the atrocities he had caused in Tamil Nadu. Though the atrocities against Tamils are not as much as Kashmiris are facing, but the Tamil Nadus are facing tough times.”
He added that PM Modi liked former CDS Bipin Rawat a lot, but he did not like the current army chief MM Naravane. He then claimed that General Rawat had become very ‘visible’ recently and Home Minister Amit Shah likes the current COAS MM Naravane a lot.
When the anchor reminded him that the Army in India is unpolitical and doesn’t do things like grabbing power etc, (unlike Pakistan Army), Malik immediately changed his claims. He then started claiming that ‘Tamil Nadus’ are the same as Tamil militants (the LTTE) and they are secretly active in India after being decimated from Sri Lanka.
He then brought in the assassination of former PM Rajiv Gandhi and claimed the ‘Tamil Nadus’ are behind the chopper crash that killed the CDS.
He further added, “The thing is, Modi liked Bipin a lot. He did not want him to retire, so he made him CDS. The current Army Chief does not have good relations with Modi, but he is very close to Amit Shah. If the current Army Chief becomes CDS now, it will not take long to take power away from Modi.” He was hinting that Home Minister Amit Shah wanted to become Prime Minister, so if the current Army Chief, who, according to him, has good relations with HM Shah, he would help Shah in becoming Prime Minister of India.
He pointed out an article that had also drawn a similar conspiracy theory that Tamil militants were behind the crash. When the anchor asked that Tamil militants are not active, he said, “Look at TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan). We all thought that they were finished at one point. However, they came back. Tamil Nadus were also looking for a chance. They crashed the chopper as soon as they got that chance. Don’t underestimate them. They killed Rajiv Gandhi too. They want freedom.”
Sadly, the Pakistani politician has no idea that Tamil Nadu is the name of the state and not the collective name for a militant organisation. Also, the Indian Army doesn’t do coups and stays far away from politics, unlike the Pakistani Army.
When the anchor suggested that India is sticking to the reports that it was a crash, Malik said, “India cannot say that their CDS was killed by Tamil militants. It would be a great defeat for India.”
‘India finance TTP and Taliban’
The next conspiracy theory he drew was that India funds TTP in Pakistan. He said, “India has supported TTP. It had supported TTP. It supports TTP. It will keep supporting TTP. I have documentary evidence of catching people red-handed while giving money to TTP. I have heard conversations between TTP and Indian agents myself. RAW is providing support to TTP.”
He further claimed that TTP is actively supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan. He said, “There are around 25,000 to 30,000 TTP members providing support to Taliban in Afghanistan.” The anchor questioned if TTP is with the Taliban, how could Taliban be friends with Pakistan, to which he said, “You need to see them separately. TTP was the reason the Taliban did not enter Afghanistan before August 31. There was an understanding between the Taliban and America. TTP is still supporting them.”
In this wild theorising, Malik perhaps forgot that it was not RAW, but his own government in Pakistan that had recently released TTP militants from prison and has been proudly boasting their friendly relations with the Taliban.
‘Danish Siddiqui was about to expose the link between India and Taliban’
One of the most senseless conspiracy theories that he drew during the talk show was that India is providing all possible support to the Taliban, and it was India that made the Taliban stronger in the region. He said, “Do you remember that Indian journalist (Danish Siddiqui) that was killed by the Taliban? He was about to expose the link between India and the Taliban. This is the reason he was killed.”
Again, Malik seems to have forgotten that Pakistan’s ISI chief has been sharing cute lovey-dovey pictures of himself with Taliban leaders and Pakistani politicians have been boasting about their own deep friendships with the Taliban. Most importantly, Pakistani PM Imran Khan had hailed the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, declaring that by defeating the US, the Taliban has broken the mental shackles of the people of the region.
Rehman Malik and his claims
Rehman Malik is not new to making wild claims. He had earlier mistaken Joe Biden for George Bush, had been falling for pranks by Indian social media users and keeps getting exposed for peddling fake news.
