ISLAMABAD\/NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A downed Indian fighter pilot who was attacked by a mob and then paraded on video by Pakistan\u2019s army has become a social media sensation and a hero in his homeland amid a spiraling crisis between the nuclear-armed neighbors.Indian pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan captured by Pakistan is seen in this handout photo released February 27, 2019. Inter Service Public Relation (ISPR) Handout via REUTERS<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Pakistani villagers and soldiers filming his capture and captivity on Wednesday in clips that have since gone viral on social media, the pilot identified by Islamabad as Indian Wing Commander Abhi Nandan has fast emerged as the human face of the dangerous flare-up between the arch-foes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India has not confirmed the pilot\u2019s identity. Indian media have given his name as Abhinandan Varthaman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pilot and the Indian Air Force (IAF) are at the heart of the crisis between two countries who have conducted air strikes on each other\u2019s territory in the last two days. The United States and China have appealed for restraint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The airman\u2019s treatment at the hands of Pakistani troops drew both condemnation and praise, while at his house in southern India supporters gathered to record messages of solidarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In one video posted on social media, a Pakistani soldier ankle-deep in a stream of water in the disputed Kashmir region can be seen shielding the pilot from angry villagers and shouting \u201cenough\u201d as they pummel his bloodied face and strike blows against his limp body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In another video, posted on Twitter by Pakistan\u2019s information ministry, the pilot is blindfolded and can be heard saying \u201cI\u2019ve got hurt and I would request some water\u201d. He then reveals his name and rank before politely fending off questions from soldiers by saying: \u201cI\u2019m not supposed to tell you that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later, in a video released by Pakistan\u2019s military, the captured airman is shown without a blindfold, appearing more relaxed, thanking the Pakistani army and sipping tea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe officers of the Pakistani Army have looked after me well, they are thorough gentlemen,\u201d he said.Slideshow (2 Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India\u2019s foreign ministry branded Pakistan\u2019s videos as a \u201cvulgar display\u201d of an injured airman, saying they violated international humanitarian law and the Geneva convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPakistan would be well advised to ensure that no harm comes to the Indian defense personnel in its custody. India also expects his immediate and safe return,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pakistan\u2019s army spokesman Asif Ghafoor tweeted a photo of the airman and said he was \u201cbeing treated as per norms of military ethics\u201d. Pakistani tweeters said he had been shown exemplary hospitality.Pakistan downs Indian warplanes, closes airspace<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Pakistan\u2019s government released a picture of the downed pilot, social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp were inundated with old videos and photos of him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Wednesday evening, the two top trends on Twitter in India were about the pilot, with many Indians demanding his release under a #BringBackAbhinandan hashtag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In one video shared on social media, purportedly from 2011, he is seen dining with the hosts of a popular Indian television food show. Asked about attributes important for a pilot, he says: \u201cBad attitude\u201d. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many posts concerned the pilot\u2019s safety, and some expressed relief to see the later video of him clutching a cup of tea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI Salute Our Brave IAF Pilot,\u201d said Twitter user Aarti, who changed her Twitter profile picture to one of his old mug shots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD\/NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A downed Indian fighter pilot who was attacked by a mob and then paraded on video by Pakistan\u2019s army has become a social media sensation and a hero in his homeland amid a spiraling crisis between the nuclear-armed neighbors.Indian pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan captured by Pakistan is seen in this handout photo released February 27, 2019…. Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3172"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3178,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3172\/revisions\/3178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}