A Turkish website called trtworld.com was seen spreading rumours about India attacking Kashmiris in the wake of the recent Pulwama terrorist attack. Referring to the Pulwama terrorist attack as “a suicide bomb attack” and Kashmir as “India-administered Kashmir”, the website posted a tweet from its official Twitter handle.
Kashmiri Muslims living in India face property evictions, job suspensions and attacks on social media after a suicide bomb attack in India-administered Kashmir https://t.co/CXstoXNrWL
— TRT World (@trtworld) February 18, 2019
The report published by the website says that “Muslim Kashmiris living in Hindu-majority India are facing property evictions, job suspensions and attacks on social media after a suicide bomber killed 44 paramilitary troops in India-administered Kashmir.” It mentions the statements of some “fear-engulfed Kashmiris”, as claimed in the report, living in other parts of India regarding the kinds of threats they are facing from the Hindu-right wing groups. The report does not stop at that, it further goes on to claim that the last year was the deadliest for India’s security personnel in Kashmir ever since PM Modi’s “Hindu nationalist” Bharatiya Janata Party came to power.
A Twitter user claimed that his tweet, in which he tagged the Home Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office complaining about the anti-India tweet of the Trt World, was suspiciously deleted by Twitter.
@hmoindia @PMOIndia twitter is questioning the sovereignty of India by promoting this hateful and false tweet by @trtworld. I twitted 5 minutes earlier as well but that tweet was deleted. Pls ensure strict action. pic.twitter.com/426eIRdNYJ
— Passerby (@rohitg1181) February 18, 2019
Similar claims have been made by the “liberal intelligentsia” in India in what appears to be an attempt to divert the attention from the ghastly terrorist attack carried out by Pakistan-backed terrorist outfit Jaish-e Mohammad. A JNU freelance protestor Shehla Rashid was seen spreading the rumours that Kashmiri students were being threatened by a mob in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Her claims were refuted by the Dehradun police. While there was no mob threatening the Kashmiri students, there were protests against the Kashmiris who were celebrating the death of soldiers in the Pulwama Terrorist attack.