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| India-Pakistan |
| Reporter plays April fool's prank, Indian army not amused |
| 2009-04-03 |
| Even an April Fool joke is not always as it should be in Kashmir. A prank played by a journalist on the security forces on Wednesday could not only have proved fatal for others, but could also boomerang on him. A journalist with a New Delhi-based TV channel sent an SMS to a senior army official in Srinagar, saying the fidayeen (suicide squad) had taken control of the Srinagar International Airport. To send the alarm bells ringing louder, he wrote that former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and People's Democratic Party chief Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was among people holed up at the airport. "Five fidayeen have entered ...the airport and former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is among the persons holed up there," read the SMS. The army immediately cordoned off the airport along with the local police. By then, panic had gripped the airport complex with passengers unable to figure out what was happening. The security forces also zeroed in some "suspects" and kept them under vigil. Suddenly, the officer gets another SMS from the same journalist, saying, "April Fool". A senior army official told HT over the phone from Srinagar, "It's ridiculous and absolute foolishness on his part. How could he play such a prank on the security forces in Kashmir? We sounded an alert within minutes, as one can't take chances in Kashmir." In Kashmir, security forces treat any information from journalists as 'credible'. Enraged, the army official informed the Inspector General of Police and the journalist was arrested. He was released only on the intervention of some senior government officials. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #5 WORLD MILITARY FORUM > IIUC CHINA: THE MERGER OF NEPAL/TIBET INTO CHINA'S ECONOMY IS A MORTAL BLOW TO INDIA. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-04-03 19:49 |
| #4 According to my uncle who "flew over the hump", the Chinese soldiers would gamble and the loser would have to jump out. The C47 pilots reported this, and the Air Corps secured the doors after that. |
| Posted by: mom 2009-04-03 09:08 |
| #3 This comes under the heading of "Asian humor". A good example was during WWII, when Chinese soldiers were being transported in open door aircraft by the US. When one of them would stand in the door for the view, another would goose him, and he would jump out, to his demise. The others thought this was hilarious. Then, soon, another would stand in the door to get a view. This phenomenon was so common that a plane would take off with many Chinese soldiers, and land with just two or three. Asian humor. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-04-03 09:02 |
| #2 It says a lot about the Indian media that a reporter would think this funny |
| Posted by: john frum 2009-04-03 08:17 |
| #1 This was idiotic. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2009-04-03 07:56 |