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| - Fact Check: No, Kashmir's Hilal Ahmad Rather didn't fly Rafale jet from France to India
Though he played a key role in ensuring the delivery of Rafale jets to the country, Hilal Ahmad was not among the seven pilots who flew the fighter jets to India from France.
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India Today Fact Check
Air Commodore Hilal Ahmad Rather, who played a key role in the delivery of Rafale jets to India never flew it from France to India. He saw off the first batch of Rafale jets which took off from France to India.
The first batch of the much-awaited five Rafale fighter jets landed in India from France on July 29. Amid this, many netizens are claiming on social media that Hilal Ahmad Rather, an Air Commodore from Ananthnag district of Kashmir, was one among the pilots who flew the first batch of Rafale flights from France to India.
One such post on Twitter reads, "Family of Hilal Ahmad Rather in Ananthnag area of south Kashmir feel proud as he is one among 5 pilots flying Rafale from France to India "
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim to be misleading. Hilal Ahmad Rather is an Air Commodore who is presently India's Air Attache in France. Though he played a key role in ensuring the delivery of Rafale jets to the country, Hilal Ahmad was not among the seven pilots who flew Rafale jets to India.
Archived versions of the claim can be seen here, here and here.
AFWA probe
With keyword search, we found an article by Kashmir-based English daily, "Greater Kashmir" on Hilal Ahmad.
The headline of the article reads, "Kashmir's Hilal Ahmad Rather becomes the first pilot to fly Rafale from France to India".
However, there is no mention in the article that Hilal Ahmad Rather is the first pilot to fly Rafale from France to India. The article says Hilal Ahmad Rather is the officer who saw off the first batch of Rafale jets which took off from France to India.
When we did a Google search on the names of pilots who flew down the five Rafale fighter aircraft, we couldn't find any mention of Rather's name.
"India Today" had written a story on the pilots who brought the five Rafale jets home from France.
According to the report, it was seven pilots who brought the initial batch of three single-seated and two twin-seater combat aircraft to India.
The report stated that Indian Air Force had released only the names of two group captains and two wing commanders in the seven-member team and the list has no mention of Hilal Ahmad Rather.
Group Captains Harkirat Singh and Rohit Kataria,and Wing Commanders Abhishek Tripath and Manish Singh are the names mentioned in the article.
Office of the Defence Minister had also tweeted (https://twitter.com/DefenceMinIndia/status/1288730283194200064 ) the India Today article with the caption, "Meet the pilots who flew Rafale home: Stories that will inspire the generation next to take the skies"
Indian Air Force also tweeted a video of the Chief of the Air Staff welcoming the first five IAF Rafales. However, Hilal Ahmad Rather was not seen among the seven pilots.
'Golden Arrows' reach home!
Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria and AOC-in-C WAC Air Marshal B Suresh welcomed the first five IAF Rafales which landed at Air Force Station Ambala earlier today. #IndianAirForce #Rafales@DefenceMinIndia @rajnathsingh pic.twitter.com/P4MDi0FWUs — Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) July 29, 2020
Who is Air Commodore Hilal Ahmad Rather
Meanwhile, multiple media houses have written articles on Commodore Hilal Ahmad Rather and the role he played in bringing home the first batch of western combat aircraft to join the Indian Air Force after 23 years.
The officer who hails from the Bakshiabad area of south Kashmir's Anantnag district was commissioned in the Air Force in 1988. He rose from being a flight lieutenant to an Air Commodore and is currently India's air attaché to France.
Reportedly, the officer is responsible for the quick delivery of the Rafale fighter aircraft and he spent the last year weaponizing the combat aircraft as per Indian conditions.
Hilal Ahmad Rather was seen with India's ambassador to France during the takeoff of Rafale jets. Also, he is the officer who saw off the first batch of Rafale jets which took off from France to India.
IAF officer who played key role in Rafale delivery hero back home in Kashmir@timesofindia https://t.co/YJngsPBueB — / RMO India (@DefenceMinIndia) July 29, 2020
India had signed a Rs 59,000-crore deal with France in 2016 to supply 36 of the Rafale jets to the Indian Air Force. It was after a long wait of four years that the fighter jets reached India on July 29.
However, the claim that Air Commodore Hilal Ahmad Rather is the first pilot to fly Rafale jets from France to India is misleading. Having played a key role in ensuring the delivery of Rafale to India, the Commodore might have done test drives on the fighter jet. However, he never flew it from France to India. He saw off the first batch of Rafale jets which took off from France to India.
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