The spokesperson for the Pakistan Armed Forces on Sunday, 14 April, asked India to emulate Pakistan in speaking the “truth” as he mocked an Indian legislator, claiming that the politician has copied its anthem and dedicated it to the Indian armed forces.
Thakur Raja Singh Lodh, a BJP member of the Telangana Legislative Assembly representing the Goshamahal constituency in Hyderabad, had tweeted on Friday, 12 April, saying, "My new song which will be released on 14th April at 11:45 AM on the occasion of #SriRamNavami is dedicated to our #IndianArmy forces."
However, as Lodh shared a snippet of the song on social media, it was pointed by many out that the composition was very much similar to the song released by the Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces, for Pakistan Day on 23 March. The song, titled ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ was written by Sahir Ali Bagga.
In a sarcastic tweet, Major General Asif Ghafoor, the spokesperson for the Pakistan Armed Forces, said:
Others too slammed the BJP MLA for “copying” the song, with one user on Twitter calling him a “disgrace”.
However, Lodh categorically denied copying the song and in another tweet posted late on 14 April he said, “Pakistani singer's may have copied my song we don’t have to copy anything from a terrorist state like Pakistan (sic).”
Notably, Ghafoor’s tweet comes in a context of heightened tensions between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the 14 February Pulwama attack, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)