As the nation prayed for the safety and wellbeing and safety of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat after the horrifying helicopter crash, Lt Gen H S Panag (R) put out a tweet at 2:52 PM condoling Gen Rawat’s demise.
At the time of this report (4 PM), there is no confirmation on Gen Rawat’s condition. As per some reports he is undergoing treatment at a hospital. Of the 14 people onboard the aircraft, 11 people have lost their lives. However, details about them are not out yet. To reiterate, there is no official statement on Gen Rawat’s condition.
While the country prayed for his wellbeing and safety, a bunch of Islamists were busy celebrating the accident. But then Lt Gen Panag (R) went a step further and already declared Gen Rawat dead.
Many Indians were taken aback with Lt Gen Panag (R)’s ‘RIP’ tweet as everyone believed that no news/confirmation is good news and that Gen Rawat would succeed in fighting this battle too.
Have some basic courtesy sir! Can't you wait for official confirmation?
— Braj Mohan Singh (@brajjourno) December 8, 2021
TFI Media founder Atul Mishra, too, tweeted whether Lt Gen Panag knew things which we may not be aware of.
Panag announced CDS Rawat's death 38 mins ago. There hasn't been any official word yet and Rajnath Singh is still to make any announcement.
— Atul Mishra (@TheAtulMishra) December 8, 2021
Why would Panag be so sure unless he knows something, others don't!!
Even Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh will be issuing a statement on the chopper crash in the Parliament on Thursday, December 9. But Lt Gen Panag (R) was just to keen on being fastest fingers first.
Panag’s tweet was further used by Pakistani forums to spread news that Gen Rawat has passed away which was then used by Pakistani users to rejoice.
Good news 😂😂
— Abdul hannan (@Abdulha90496414) December 8, 2021
In fact, he even brazened it out.
The news is all over the media. There is no such protocol.
— Lt Gen H S Panag(R) (@rwac48) December 8, 2021
He then blamed it on media that the news of Gen Rawat’s demise was reported already.
The media had already confirmed the news.
— Lt Gen H S Panag(R) (@rwac48) December 8, 2021
However, even at the time of this report, at 4 PM, over two hours after Lt Gen Panag (R)’s tweet ‘RIP General Bipin Rawat’, no media outlet has confirmed his death. Even if any stray media has, it cannot be taken on face value till it comes from the official Indian Armed Forces. But Lt Gen Panag (R) would rather believe media reports, which could often be wrong, than wait for official status on Gen Rawat.
Lt Gen H S Panag (R) and his history of anti-Modi mindset
That Lt Gen H S Panag (R) was too quick to give condolences instead of praying for Gen Rawat’s wellbeing and safety is not too surprising. In October 2017 after the Indian Air Force chopper crashed in the harsh terrain of Arunachal Pradesh, the mortal remains of the martyrs were airlifted. Lt Gen Panag, who once served as a Commanding Officer with the Indian Army shared misleading images of the coffins to insinuate that the government and the army deliberately disrespected the martyrs.
In fact, he has such anti-Modi views that ahead of 2019 general elections, he had suggested that a coup may be a good option if PM Modi returned to power. In a now deleted tweet he had suggested that a coup against a democratically elected government would be great idea if you don’t like the leader majority chooses. Not just that, he had even endorsed senior journalist Shekhar Gupta’s fake coup story in 2012.
After recently concluded West Bengal state assembly polls, he was also accused by netizens of celebrating the post poll violence. With violence from TMC goons at a fever pitch, causing Mamata Banerjee herself to comment about it, Panag wrote, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”. This was interpreted by many Netizens as support for the situation in Bengal.
In September this year, he was so triggered by Aarti music by military band that he shared a snippet on Twitter insinuating that it was a new thing happening under Modi regime. His misleading tweet gave the so-called liberals, intellectuals and Hinduphobes a great chance to ridicule the Indian Army and blame Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Hindutva’ for the same.
Panag has served in the Army from 1969 to 2008 and is father of Bollywood actress and former Aam Aadmi Party leader Gul Panag.
