A poem attributed to the sister of wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by the Pakistani army on February 27, is floating across social media platforms. Among those who tweeted it was IAS officer Captain Manivannan. His tweet received over 1,500 likes and among those who retweeted it was Congress IT cell head Divya Spandana.
NDTV’s defence editor Vishnu Som narrated the poem live on the channel, attributing it to the pilot’s sister.
Heartwarming verse turned out by sister of #WingCommandarAbhinandan , saluting his bravery and dignity, and assailing jingoists and chest-thumping warmongers. Courtesy @VishnuNDTV @ndtv
— Sankarshan Thakur (@SankarshanT) March 1, 2019
Delhi municipal councilor Yasmin Kidwai from Congress shared the poem from her Twitter account.
Several other handles also circulated the poem, claiming that it was penned by the Indian pilot’s sister.
What is the truth?
The poem attributed to wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman’s sister was not written by her. It was actually written by Varun Ram Iyer on February 27, 2019, the same day Varthaman was taken into custody by the Pakistani army.
My Brother With a Bloodied Nose
My brother with a bloodied nose,
An officer and gentleman.
Landed across the Line of…Posted by Varun Ram Iyer on Wednesday, 27 February 2019
He also put out a comment stating that the poem was penned by him.
The misinformation was earlier debunked by Boomlive and India Today.
Varthaman’s sister Aditi thanked Iyer for the poem.
Since wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman made headlines after his capture by the Pakistani army, social media has been brimming with misinformation shared at the expense of the pilot and his family members, including his mother and wife.