Busting Pakistani propaganda and social media chatter that Islamabad has captured another Indian fighter pilot, possibly India’s first female Rafale fighter pilot – Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh – New Delhi has clarified that all Indian fighter pilots are “back home” safely.
Asked about the loss of Indian fighter jets and the possible capture of any Indian fighter pilots, Air Marshal AK Bharti said: “We are in a combat scenario and losses are part of combat. However, we have achieved all our objectives, and all our pilots are back home.”
This put an end to the vicious social media propaganda that claimed that Pakistan had captured Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh alive.
Multiple Pakistan-linked social media accounts also shared a video of a pilot parachuting in Pakistan and being captured alive.
Many of these false claims also had overtly sexist commentary.
“See your Shivangi Singh getting disgraced and being a ‘Mal e Ghanimat’ for us now,” multiple accounts posted on the social media platform X.
‘Mal e Ghanimat’ translates to “spoils of war” or “booty” in English. In Islam, it refers to the wealth and property captured from enemies during a war or conflict.
These claims, with their overt sexist tone, had been swirling on social media at least since May 8. Even though India’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check had already rubbished the claims, many people believed these videos, given that there was no official denial from Pakistan.
“Indian Female Air Force pilot has NOT been captured. Pro-Pakistan social media handles claim that an Indian Female Air Force pilot, Squadron Leader Shivani Singh, has been captured in Pakistan,” PIB Fact Check posted on X on May 10.
However, it is worth noting that Pakistan officially denied having any Indian fighter pilot in captivity only after Air Marshal AK Bharti categorically asserted that all our (Indian) pilots are back home.
Addressing the media on the night of May 12, Pakistan Army spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that no Indian pilot was in the custody of Pakistan, and all such reports were based on “fake social media reports”.
However, throughout their 78-year history, both countries have captured each other’s fighter pilots alive on multiple occasions, even during periods of peace.
In fact, it was 66 years ago that Pakistan was able to capture two Indian fighter pilots alive for the first time.
1959: When Pakistan Shot Down Indian Spy Plane
India and Pakistan gained independence in 1947 and straight away went to war over Kashmir. However, during the 1948 India-Pakistan war, the air force played a minimal role.
The Pakistani Air Force (PAF) was primarily used for logistical purposes, while the Indian Air Force (IAF) performed logistical tasks as well as limited offensive roles.
However, the first Indian aircraft was shot down by Pakistan, not during a war situation but during peacetime.
It was April 10, 1959, and the day of Eid-ul-Fitr.
Even the Pakistani armed forces were preparing for festivities when Rab Nawaz (Pilot Officer), a radar operator on duty at the Sector Operations Center in Sargodha Cantonment, suddenly received an emergency signal of an Indian aircraft in Pakistani airspace.
An Indian Canberra aircraft had entered Pakistani airspace while on an aerial reconnaissance mission. The Pakistani radars, of the Second World War vintage, spotted the plane.
The IAF inducted 60 Canberra aircraft in 1957. They were utilized as bombers and for photo-reconnaissance missions.
These aircraft performed combat missions for the IAF during the 1961 Goa Liberation, the 1962 India-China war, as well as during the 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan. The aircraft, designed in the last days of World War II by the English Electric Canberra, served the IAF for half a century and retired in 2007.
However, this aircraft also had the unenviable distinction of being the first Indian aircraft shot down by Pakistan.
After the Indian aircraft ignored repeated warnings to land, Pakistan scrambled two F-86F Sabres flown by Flt. Lt. M. N. Butt and Flt. Lt. M. Yunis from the Peshawar Air Base.
Pakistan received these aircraft from the US because Islamabad had joined the Cold War-era anti-Soviet Union alliance CENTO (Central Treaty Organization).
The IAF Canberra PR57 was operated by Squadron Leader Jagdish Chandra Sengupta and navigator Flight Lieutenant Satyendra Nath Rampal, from the 106 Squadron based at Ajmer air base.
The objective of their mission was allegedly to take pictures of Pakistan Army strategic locations between Lahore and Rawalpindi.
As per reports, the Indian plane was cruising at an altitude of 50,000 feet, beyond the operational range of Sabre aircraft.
Pakistani fighter pilots claim that they first fired warning shots at the Indian aircraft. However, India denied these claims. India also claimed that the plane was on a routine mission to take pictures of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, and that it must have strayed into Pakistan by mistake.
Pakistani fighter pilots claim that when they fired warning shots, Indian pilots panicked and their aircraft rapidly lost altitude.
“Overhead Gujrat now, it appeared to be at about 50,000 ft. We punched our tanks and, although we were still out of range, the mounting excitement threatened to get the better of sound judgment,” Pakistani fighter pilot Yunis wrote of the incident in Defense Journal.
After firing the warning shots, Yunus decided to go for the kill.
“We were still not within optimum range, but Naseer impatiently launched into a series of energy-climb/burst-of-gunfire/stall-out sequences, which became more desperate with each repetition.
“In the meantime, I kept a steady height and heading to give rear cover to my leader. It suddenly occurred to me that, if the Canberra spotted us, he would in all probability turn right, i.e., towards the border, so I eased over in that direction,” Yunis wrote.
“The leader had given me the okay to have a go if I could, but I could see I was still too far below the target.”
“Presently, the Canberra did turn right and then, as if he had spotted me, quickly reversed. On that side he must have spotted [Naseer] Butt, for he seemed to panic and tightened his turn, which of course caused him to lose height rapidly,” Yunis wrote.
Yunis later recounted that he fired over 1200 shots, which battered the Canberra and forced its pilots to eject.
The pilot of the Canberra, Sqn Ldr J.C. Sengupta, and navigator Flt Lt S.N. Rampal were taken into custody after they ejected and landed on Pakistani soil. According to Pakistani officials, the Indian crew accepted that they were in Pakistan on a spying mission. They were repatriated the following day.
However, the Indian government denied that the aircraft was on a spying mission.
Speaking in the parliament on April 11, 1959, India’s then Defence Minister V.K. Krishna Menon said that the aircraft’s mission was to take aerial photographs of Indian Jammu and Kashmir.
However, since the plane flew at 50,000 feet, it made an error and inadvertently strayed into Pakistani airspace.
However, Canberra continued to play a prominent role in the IAF and participated in the wars of 1962, 1965, and 1971. The aircraft served the IAF until 2007, when the Canberra fleet was finally retired.
The First But Not The Last
Sqn Ldr Sengupta and Flt Lt Rampal were the first IAF pilots captured alive by Pakistan, but certainly not the last. Just six years later, in 1965, India and Pakistan fought a 21-day-long war.
During this war, an Indian fighter pilot, Squadron Leader Brij Pal Singh Sikand, was captured by the Pakistan Army after his IAF Gnat landed at an abandoned Pakistani airstrip due to lack of fuel.
Today, the captured Gnat fighter is a war trophy at the PAF’s Karachi museum. Sikand spent more than four months in Pakistani custody and was released in January 1966. He rose to become Air Marshal and retired from the IAF in October 1986, having earned an Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 1978 and a Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 1987.
Again, during the 1971 war, 16 IAF pilots were taken POWs by Pakistan.
Three of them – Flight Lieutenant Dilip Parulkar, Flight Lieutenant M S Grewal, and Flying Officer Harish Sinhji even executed a daring escape from a Pakistani prison.
In August 1972, they escaped from Rawalpindi jail and made their way towards Afghanistan. However, they were captured again by the Pakistan military when they were just four miles away from the Afghanistan border.
They finally returned home to a hero’s welcome at the Wagah border on December 1, 1972.
India had also captured Pakistani fighter pilots during the 1971 war and released them later. Prominent among them were Air-Cdre Inamul Haque, Gp-Capt. Zulfiqar Ali Khan, Flt-Lt. PQ Mehdi, Flight Lieutenant Pervaiz Mehdi Qureshi among many others.
During the 1999 Kargil conflict, Flight Lieutenant Kambampati Nachiketa Rao was captured alive by Pakistan. He spent eight days in Pakistani custody. The last Indian fighter pilot who was captured alive by Pakistan was Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman in 2019. Abhinandan was repatriated to India within two days.
However, during the latest hostilities, both Indian and Pakistani fighter pilots did not enter each other’s airspace, and thus, no fighter pilots were taken prisoner.
- Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from the University of Sheffield, UK.
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- He can be reached at ahlawat.sumit85 (at) gmail.com
