SOURCE: ENS
It has been a year since Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured by the Pakistan Army on February 27, and the pilot is back in focus as Pakistan celebrated the event. The nation observed ‘Surprise Day’ to mark its attempted air strike on military installations in India’s Rajouri sector, but what has gone viral from the event is an interview with a man who claims to have served the downed IAF pilot a cup of tea.
Geo New Urdu journalist Hamid Mir met Anwar Ali, who is allegedly the man who made and served tea to Wing Commander Varthaman while he was being interrogated. In a clip released by Pakistan during his detention, the IAF pilot was seen drinking a cup of tea during his interrogation and also responded to a question saying it was very good.
Mir asked Ali what the IAF pilot had said after drinking the tea, and Ali claimed that Wing Commander Varthaman had praised the tea and thanked him.
Mir displayed a cup and saucer which he claimed was the same ones in which the IAF pilot was served tea. The journalist asked Ali how he felt about serving tea to an “enemy pilot”, to which the man replied, “Woh mehman tha (he was a guest)”.
While India had objected to the release of the videos of the IAF pilot in captivity since it violated international norms, the image of Wing Commander Varthaman went viral and his response to the questions from his interrogators (“I’m not supposed to tell you this.”) inspired social media posts.
Incidentally, the Pakistan Air Force has reportedly kept a wax statue of the IAF pilot, images and exhibits from his capture at its museum in Karachi. The cup and saucer in which he was served tea was stated to be one of the exhibits.
On social media, people cracked up over the report about the cup and saucer, but Ali’s reply about the IAF pilot being a guest won hearts.
A day after the Indian Air Force struck a terror camp in Balakot deep inside Pakistan, Pakistan Air Force aircraft violated Indian airspace in J&K and attempted air strikes. However, they caused little damage on the ground as the bombs fell in uninhabited areas near military installations.
Varthaman was captured by the Pakistani Army after his MiG-21 Bison was shot down during a dogfight with Pakistani jets. Varthaman, who downed a Pakistani F-16 jet, was captured and returned home on March 1. While Pakistan has claimed it never used American F-16s in its attempted air strike, India presented parts of a fired AMRAAM missile which can only be fired from that aircraft as well as other evidence.
from Indian Defence Research Wing https://ift.tt/39beEgn
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