False claim of India ‘capturing’ Chinese side of Pangong Lake and 43 Chinese killed

[beijingwalker]

False claim of India ‘capturing’ Chinese side of Pangong Lake published by dubious website
Archit Mehta
18th June 2020

On June 17, a UK-based news platform Epistle News published a report that claimed India has captured the Chinese side of Pangong Lake for the first time since 1962. The article is no longer accessible on the website. However, the tweet (archive link) posted by Epistle News Twitter account shows such an article was indeed published.

Prashant Patel Umrao similarly tweeted, “According to a report, Bharat has captured the Chinese side of Pangong Lake- a region that was taken under china’s control post the 1962 war.” His tweet has been retweeted over 5,000 times (archive link). Umrao has often been found sharing misinformation on social media.

Ashish Pandey, member of Uttar Pradesh chief minister social media hub tweeted an identical tweet as Umrao’s (archive link). Vibhor Anand posted a similar tweet. He wrote, “Big and Confirmed: #IndiaChinaFaceOff Indian Forces have captured the Chinese side of Pangong Lake codenamed Finger 8.” Anand’s tweet gained over 1,000 retweets (archive link).

The article is no longer available on Epistle News website, however, there is a screenshot of the same. As per the screenshot, the opening paragraph read, “In a fresh twist to ongoing India-China skirmishes, unconfirmed sources have asserted that India has now captured the Chinese side of Pangong Lake – a region that was taken under China’s control post the 1962 Indo-China war.” The article also included an image that showed Indian soldiers waving a flag with their fists raised in the air.

Since then several people on Facebook and Twitter have shared the article. A Facebook user even copy-pasted the entire article while sharing a post by BJP Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy (archive link). The first paragraph is identical to the one in the screenshot attached above.

In the course of this article, Alt New will investigate the following:
1) Epistle News website
2) Twitter account of Epistle News

VERIFICATION
Alt News performed a keyword search and found that no other website has made the claim that India has captured the Chinese side of Pangong Lake. Moreover, neither the Government of India nor the Indian army has made any such announcement. In fact, both India and China have agreed to de-escalate, meaning that it is improbable that New Delhi will engage in an offensive of this scale. Yet several social media users have shared the claim promoted by a sketchy website called Epistle News which has .co.uk domain and as per it’s Twitter bio it is based out of London.

Alt News analysed the website and Twitter account of Epistle News and found several traits that indicate that it’s not a news website but a set up to push pro-government propaganda.

1) Epistle News website
We visited the website and noticed that along with the article in question, it had also published another piece which claimed that the Indian army killed 43 Chinese troopers.

On June 17, Alt News published a report on how a section of the media and journalists misrepresented ANI’s tweet on alleged casualties on the Chinese side as “43 Chinese soldiers killed”. We also noticed that not a single article on the website is responsive. All of them lead to ‘404 Not Found’ error page.

https://www.altnews.in/false-claim-...of-pangong-lake-published-by-dubious-website/

 

[beijingwalker]

Alt News performed a reverse image search of the photo shown in the Epistle News tweet and found that it was published by several media outlets, including The Print which had used it as a representative image in an article from March and credited it to ANI.

While the image does not seem to be on the public domain, another reverse image search led to a similar image published by India Today on January 26, 2020.

As per the article, the image shows soldiers celebrating the 2020 Republic Day at the LoC. The differences between the two images are — A) Soldiers’ fists aren’t raised and B) Images are not shot at the exact time. Apart from that, both images are identical — A) They show the same nine Indian army soldiers; B) In both the images the fifth trooper is holding the flag and C) The location is the same.

On January 25, an India Today broadcast showed the soldiers in the viral image singing a patriotic song. The relevant section begins from 2:44 seconds in the video.

2) Twitter account of Epistle News
As per the website, the Twitter handle of Epistle News is @EpistleNews. As per its Twitter bio, the account was created in 2016. A low follower count, after a period of four years, indicates that it is not a genuine news organisation. As of this writing, the account has posted only 88 tweets since its inception which is atypical and suspicious of a news website.

Using a tool called accountanalysis.app, we found that the top three hashtags promoted by the handle were India, Trump and Indore. It is highly uncharacteristic of a ‘UK-based’ website to not publish top stories related to the UK.

https://www.altnews.in/false-claim-...of-pangong-lake-published-by-dubious-website/

 

[Shantanu_Left]

I am so glad I left that stinking hole of low IQ subhumans 15 years ago.

 

[beijingwalker]

Yesterday one Indian poster here challenged me saying India took control of some land that it wasn't able to do so since 1962.. I was not sure what he was talking about, now I know he was talking about this one...

 

[pakpride00090]

Yesterday one Indian poster here challenged me saying India took control of some land that it wasn't able to do so since 1962.. I was not sure what he was talking about, now I know he was talking about this one...

Let them fool themselves. They know the reality. Creating lies on twitter is only way for them to feel happy.

China just released 10 indian soldiers that included major and captain.... How come China lost soldiers when it is actually the one who is releasing the dead bodies of indian soldiers as well as freeing live prisoners....
Retards will cook anything up.

 

[newb3e]

cowards need lies to boost moral!

there is a reason why india has a huge army of keyboard warriors and they are famous for their lies their army is weak and cowardly!

sad sad people!

 

[Imran Khan]

just wait few days they will honor medals to dead and captured indian soldiers
and they will have celebrations of galwan victory day after few years

 

[52051]

Just whenever you think you finally find some reasonable post from Indians, just don't keep your hope high:

By talking and showing excessive willingness to deescalate , we are strengthening Chini salami slicing.. If we dont show national resolve to avenge deaths of our 20 breavehearts , then we risk repeatation of same again and again .. Why are we worried about giving face saving option to china when their clear motive was to humiliate us by teaching us lesson again.. Its time to stop talking.. If someone tries to intrude in our land , our soldiers should be able to shoot. There is no point in sending them to such harsh locations against cruel cunning enemy with hands tied behind their backs.. There is palpable anger in common Indian citizen against chinese.. GOI has clear majority, public backing and capable armed force.. If this is not sufficient to take VISIBLE action against china then I dont know if we ever be worthy enough to call us superpower..

I really like this bharat-rakshak sites, the guys there talks even more funny than Trump

 

[Cthulhu]

What is Bharat?

 

[QWECXZ]

What is Bharat?

I guess that's what Indians call India.

 

[IblinI]

just wait few days they will honor medals to dead and captured indian soldiers
and they will have celebrations of galwan victory day after few years

Look at how they honor those who fled without their CO and detained comrades.

 

[Jinn Baba]

Just wait till they steal your national military songs and claim them as their own too

 

[rambro]

Indian regime is known to have multiple so-called NEWS sites in english language and name to push its false context on the web to influence other countries.

 

[Dil Pakistan]

On 27th Feb 2019, Indian shot down PAF F-16 with the mijjile not leaving the MiG-21 launcher.

This time they have killed 43 Chinese soldiers with their hands.

False claim of India ‘capturing’ Chinese side of Pangong Lake published by dubious website
Archit Mehta
18th June 2020

On June 17, a UK-based news platform Epistle News published a report that claimed India has captured the Chinese side of Pangong Lake for the first time since 1962. The article is no longer accessible on the website. However, the tweet (archive link) posted by Epistle News Twitter account shows such an article was indeed published.

Prashant Patel Umrao similarly tweeted, “According to a report, Bharat has captured the Chinese side of Pangong Lake- a region that was taken under china’s control post the 1962 war.” His tweet has been retweeted over 5,000 times (archive link). Umrao has often been found sharing misinformation on social media.

Ashish Pandey, member of Uttar Pradesh chief minister social media hub tweeted an identical tweet as Umrao’s (archive link). Vibhor Anand posted a similar tweet. He wrote, “Big and Confirmed: #IndiaChinaFaceOff Indian Forces have captured the Chinese side of Pangong Lake codenamed Finger 8.” Anand’s tweet gained over 1,000 retweets (archive link).

The article is no longer available on Epistle News website, however, there is a screenshot of the same. As per the screenshot, the opening paragraph read, “In a fresh twist to ongoing India-China skirmishes, unconfirmed sources have asserted that India has now captured the Chinese side of Pangong Lake – a region that was taken under China’s control post the 1962 Indo-China war.” The article also included an image that showed Indian soldiers waving a flag with their fists raised in the air.

Since then several people on Facebook and Twitter have shared the article. A Facebook user even copy-pasted the entire article while sharing a post by BJP Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy (archive link). The first paragraph is identical to the one in the screenshot attached above.

In the course of this article, Alt New will investigate the following:
1) Epistle News website
2) Twitter account of Epistle News

VERIFICATION
Alt News performed a keyword search and found that no other website has made the claim that India has captured the Chinese side of Pangong Lake. Moreover, neither the Government of India nor the Indian army has made any such announcement. In fact, both India and China have agreed to de-escalate, meaning that it is improbable that New Delhi will engage in an offensive of this scale. Yet several social media users have shared the claim promoted by a sketchy website called Epistle News which has .co.uk domain and as per it’s Twitter bio it is based out of London.

Alt News analysed the website and Twitter account of Epistle News and found several traits that indicate that it’s not a news website but a set up to push pro-government propaganda.

1) Epistle News website
We visited the website and noticed that along with the article in question, it had also published another piece which claimed that the Indian army killed 43 Chinese troopers.

On June 17, Alt News published a report on how a section of the media and journalists misrepresented ANI’s tweet on alleged casualties on the Chinese side as “43 Chinese soldiers killed”. We also noticed that not a single article on the website is responsive. All of them lead to ‘404 Not Found’ error page.

https://www.altnews.in/false-claim-of-india-capturing-chinese-side-of-pangong-lake-published-by-dubious-website/

My friend! it only means one thing ..... Indians need more spanking. They are not satisfied as yet.

What is Bharat?

It is the hypothetical dreamland of Hindutwa ideology (the ideology followed by Modi, RSS and others like them).

The geographical of this dream land state encompasses current India + current Pakistan + current Sri Lanka + current Nepal and the areas where they are now getting the beating from China.

 

[Han Patriot]

These are not false claims....

The Indianness always wins!

No amount of evidence, proofs or logic can defeat Indianness!

India won a GreatVictory and Taught China a Lesson... 20 died fighting and killed 43 with their bare hands... this is now the IndianFact!!

Our Chinese friends are now dealing with Indianness ...which we have faced for past 73yrs!

There is only one way to deal with Indianness!!!

The thing is we didn't kill 23, they ran and jumped into the river, died of cold and injuries. We only killed 3.brave Jawans indeed.