Fake quote of Army chief General Bipin Rawat circulates on social media

A fake quote attributed to Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat was shared by a Facebook page I Support Doval which has a massive follower base of over 1.7 million. The text inscribed along with an image of Rawat stated, “आर्मी चीफ बिपिन रावत जी ने कहा अगर नेता बनना है तो 5 साल पहले देश की सेवा के लिए आर्मी में होना अनिवार्य कर दिया जाए ! यकीन मानिए देश का 80% कचरा अपने आप ही साफ़ हो जायेगा. इनके बातो से कितने लोग सहमत है जो सहमत हैं शेयर करे” (Army chief Bipin Rawat said that to become a leader, it should be made mandatory to serve the country in the army for 5 years. Believe it or not, 80 % of India’s garbage will be cleared automatically. How many people agree with his statement. Share this, if you do -translated) It has been shared more than 2900 times and ‘liked’ more than 5400 times.

The above image had been shared in the past as well and in response to this, Indian army had clarified through their social media channels on September 11, 2018, that the statement being circulated was false. The clarification was published on the official Facebook page and the Twitter handle of the Indian Army. It was stated that some anti-social elements had circulated a false statement ascribed to General Bipin Rawat. This fake quote was once again shared on social media on September 16, 2018, despite the earlier clarification.

It has been observed repeatedly that fake quotes ascribed to public figures are routinely circulated by Facebook pages as part of political propaganda. Users are advised to be circumspect and verify any statement/claim that they may come across on social media.