Congress leader Sachin Pilot has lashed out at BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya for accusing the former’s late father, Rajesh Pilot, of dropping bombs on Mizoram in 1966. This was after Malviya, known for peddling fake news on social media, sensationally accused the late Congress minister of dropping bombs on Mizoram as an Indian Air Force officer 57 years ago.
Sharing a clip from the broadcast of ABP News TV channel, Malviya had written in Hindi, “Rajesh Pilot and Suresh Kalmadi were flying the Indian Air Force planes that bombed Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, on 5 March 1966. Later both became MPs on Congress ticket and ministers in the government.
“It is clear that Indira Gandhi gave a place in politics as a reward, gave respect to those who carried out air raids on their own people in the North East.”
Taking a dim view of Malviya’s tweet, Sachin Pilot, wrote, “.@amitmalviya – You have the wrong dates, wrong facts… Yes, as an Indian Air Force pilot, my late father did drop bombs. But that was on erstwhile East Pakistan during the 1971 Indo-Pak war and not as you claim, on Mizoram on the 5th of March 1966. He was commissioned into the IAF only on 29th October 1966! (Certificate attached) Jai hind and a happy Independence Day
Rajesh Pilot was one of the tallest leaders in the Congress party and held key ministries under the Congress government led by the then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. He died in a road accident on 11 June 2000 in Rajasthan.
The Centre’s Narendra Modi government has been facing severe criticism for mishandling the situation in Manipur, a key north-eastern Indian state, which has seen one of the worst ethnic clashes in its history. The BJP has been accused of pushing the North-East into chaos and making India’s border unsafe given that the region shares borders with Myanmar and China among others.