Recently we have seen the obstinacy of Wikipedia Editors regarding the page: 2020 Delhi riots, where they have blocked attempts to remove the bias against Hindus and make it a neutral article. There are umpteen such examples of Wikipedia, just like Twitter and Quora, having a strong bias against India, Hindus and RSS/BJP.
In this article, we focus on the lies on Wikipedia regarding the F-16 downing incident and how they have focused on extremely biased articles to try to prove that India lied about downing an F-16 and Balakot strikes.
I write this article when the news from Pakistan talks about an F-16 crashing in a parade rehearsal in Islamabad. Pakistan regularly releases information about fighter jets crashing. “About nine or 10 F-7PGs/FT-7PGs have been lost during their 15 years in service. The losses of F-7PGs/FT-7PGs in air crashes are within normal limits, aviation experts claim“. I have always had a suspicion that Pakistan would retrofit its loss of F-16 by Wing Commander Abhinandan in one of these “Training” crashes and bury the information in its archives. Only time will tell when they release information of an F-16 lost in a “training crash”.
Let’s look at the Bias on Wikipedia against India especially centered around the Balakot and aftermath incidents-
1. On the F-16 Wikipedia page, it is written:
On 27 February 2019, two Pakistan Air Force F-16s, one F-16AM flown by Wg. Cdr. Nauman Ali Khan, , and one F-16BM , flown by Sqn. Ldr. Hassan Mehmood Siddiqui, both aircraft from No. 11 ‘Arrows’ Squadron, shot down two Indian Air Force fighters, one MiG-21 Bison and one Su-30MKI over Kashmir using AIM-120C AMRAAMs. These were the first air-to-air kills using beyond visual range (BVR) missiles in South Asia.[119][120][121] India disputes the loss of the Su-30MKI and instead claimed the downing of an F-16. The only confirmed loss from the engagement was the MiG-21.[122][123]
Citation 119 is from Al Jazeera, where they have said that Pakistan military claims that they shot down two Indian aircraft inside Pakistani airspace and captured two pilots. Pakistan Military continued to claim that no F-16s were used in the sortie.
Citation 120 is from Hindustan Times, where they mention that Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told Parliament that two Indian planes were shot down by them. He names the two pilots who shot down Indian Aircraft. But in this startling revelation unearthed by India Today, it comes out that these pilots actually were F-16 pilots and the article says: A pilot Pakistan officially identified for attacking Indian aircraft last month did fly an F-16, the probe established.
Citation 121 is from CNN, where they have only said that Pakistan claims that they shot down two Indian Aircraft Pakistan says its air force shot down two Indian fighter jets over the disputed border region of Kashmir.
As seen above, nowhere in the secondary sources has it been said that two fighters were shot down, and even the articles talk only about the lies peddled by the Pakistani ministers. Instead of bolstering their claims, the Pakistani Foreign Minister accidentally revealed information which helped us validate that F-16 were indeed used in the attack.
And the citations 122 and 123 are from private blogs which only further peddle lies of the Pakistanis that they also shot down a Su-30 MKI. Citation 123 says Pakistan Air Force made Operation Swift Retort Memorial at PAF Base Mushaf . How can this article be quoted as a secondary source on Wikipedia?
And the battle to edit the article continues on Wikipedia. It can be seen in the history of edits of the pages.
2. On the 2019 Balakot Strike Wikipedia Page, it says,
Neutral sources have asserted that the munitions dropped by Indian warplanes appeared to have hit several trees in a wooded area but caused no other damage, nor any casualties in the area where the attack took place.[60][61][62][63][64][65] Some Western diplomats also stated that they did not believe Indian Air Force had hit any militant camp.[63] Western security officials have cast doubt over Indian claims and asserted that there are no longer any such large scale militant camps in Pakistan.[66]
All of the citations in this paragraph are from famously Anti-India newspapers such as Guardian and New York Times. If these links have to be used always, let us just shut down Wikipedia and make a New York Timespedia and a Guardianpedia.
3. On the 2019 Jammu and Kashmir airstrikes page, they quote one Foreign Policy article which claims unnamed sources say that a count of F-16 fighters revealed that none are missing. When Hindustan Times countered this false propaganda, the anti India news papers jumped on the bandwagon to prove that Indian Air Force is wrong.
While New York Times labelled Pakistan victorious in the dog fight that took place on 27 February 2019, Washington Post claimed India was lying.Regarding the Washington Post article which claims Indian Air Force did not shoot down an F-16, they rely on a private blog website to bolster their claims.
The IAF responded last week by releasing “irrefutable” evidence — including electronic signatures and radio transcripts — that Pakistan lost a fighter jet during the February aerial combat. A number of U.S. and Indian defense analysts called the evidence circumstantial.
The defence analysts mentioned in the Washington Post article is cited to https://www.thedrive.com/ , which is an Automobile enthusiast website with certain defence related articles. This is appalling to say the least, that Washington Post’s hatred for India is so great that they can use any random source to validate their argument
It is extremely difficult for young Indian students who read Wikipedia for gaining knowledge to ever know the true picture when Wikipedia has editors who are anti-India and sympathetic to Pakistan who ensure that the story is nowhere close to neutral and they are being helped by scores of rabidly Anti-India, Anti-Hindu newspapers such as Washington Post, New York Times and Guardian.
Let us make young India aware about how neutrality has disappeared when it comes to India and especially to Hindus.
