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| - Fact Check: Did Bipin Rawat seek Army chief's dismissal over Ladakh crisis?
A fake letter going viral on social media claims that Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat asked Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to dismiss Army chief General MM Naravane.
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India Today Fact Check
The defence ministry has confirmed that no such letter was written by Rajnath Singh.
A letter purportedly written by Union defence minister Rajnath Singh to Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing the rounds on social media. The letter says that the Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat has recommended the removal of Army chief General MM Naravane and commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps, Lt Gen Harinder Singh.
The viral letter, having Rajnath Singh’s letterhead and signature, says, “I have received a communication from Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat about the recent standoff between Chinese and Indian Army. As per your orders, an inquiry has been conducted to find out the reason behind the killing of Indian Army officers and troops in Galwan Valley.”
“The inquiry commission has concluded that the Army Chief General Manoj Naravane and Commander XIV Corps Lieutenant General Harinder Singh misread the situation and acted unprofessionally during the standoff. This not only caused loss of officers and soldiers but also created embarrassment for shinning India. General Bipin has recommended removal of both the officers owing to their performance in this case, as well as in the past,” the letter further says.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the letter is fake. Rajnath Singh has not written any such letter to PM Modi.
Several spelling and grammatical errors in the viral letter, and also the tonality, gave rise to suspicions about its authenticity. We could not find any information related to the letter on the official website of the defence ministry or its social media handle.
Neither did any credible media house cover the news. In the backdrop of Indo-China tension along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), this would have been national news.
We then contacted the public relations representative of the defence ministry who confirmed that Rajnath Singh hasn’t written any such letter to PM Modi.
A few days ago, 144 military veterans had signed a statement on China in which they’d highlighted the need to revamp the country’s intelligence. CDS General Bipin Rawat and the three service chiefs had signed the statement.
Even on Saturday, July 11, Rajnath Singh met the three service chiefs and other officials to review the situation along the LAC.
Therefore, it is clear that the purported letter from defence minister Rajnath Singh to PM Modi, saying CDS General Bipin Rawat recommended the removal of Army chief General MM Naravane, is fake.
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