Fact Check: Did Indian Army disband Muslim Regiment? | Here's the truth behind viral claim
Fact Check: It is being said in the viral post that the Muslim Regiment was disbanded from the Indian Army. Let us know the complete truth of this viral claim.
Fact Check by Vishvas News: Several social media users are claiming through a post that the Indian Army had a Muslim Regiment, which was disbanded after incidents of betrayal during the 1965 war with Pakistan. These posts assert that the regiment existed until 1965 and was disbanded following allegations of Muslim soldiers siding with Pakistan during the conflict.
The fact-check team found this claim to be fake in its investigation. The Indian Army never had a Muslim regiment, so the claim of it being disbanded is false and contrary to factual records.
What is viral?
Many users have shared this post in the same context on different social media platforms.
Investigation
The post claims that till the year 1965, there was a Muslim regiment in the country's army, which was disbanded after the war with Pakistan in the same year.
To verify the claims about the existence of a Muslim Regiment in the Indian Army, a review of the official Indian Army website was conducted. The website lists regiments such as the Madras Regiment, Rajput Regiment, Sikh Regiment, Bihar Regiment, Gorkha Rifles, and Naga Regiment, among others. However, there is no mention of a Muslim Regiment anywhere on the site.
In the search, we found an article written by retired Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain of the Indian Army. In this article published under the name 'The 'missing' Muslim regiment: Without comprehensive rebuttal, Pakistani propaganda dupes the gullible across the board', he has described this matter as propaganda of Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
He has written, "The core of Pakistani propaganda is that till 1965 there used to be a Muslim regiment in the Indian Army and this regiment was disbanded after 20,000 Muslims refused to fight with Pakistan during the war. Therefore, not a single Muslim soldier fought in the 1971 war (another lie.)"
According to the information given in the article, "After independence, most of the Muslim officers and soldiers went to Pakistan and the number of people of this community in the army again decreased considerably. However, there are many sub-units in which there are only Muslims."
According to the article, “There was never a Muslim regiment in the army and certainly none in 1965. However, there are many examples of the bravery of Muslim soldiers in different regiments. Param Vir Chakra Abdul Hamid is less remembered today. Major (General) Mohammad Zaki (Vir Chakra) and Major Abdul Rafi Khan (Vir Chakra posthumously), fought alongside their uncle Major General Sahibzada Yakub Khan, who was commanding the Pakistani division. There are such examples of Muslim warriors in the 1965 war. The same happened in the 1971 war.”
In our news search, we found an article published in the ‘Indian Express’, which confirms the claim of the ‘info war’ being waged by the Pakistani ISPR against India.
The author of the article is a member of the National Security Advisory Board. According to the information given in the article, "ISPR has recruited thousands of youth who spread anti-India propaganda by creating fake accounts on different social media platforms like Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube and Facebook."
This claim has been viral on social media many times before in the same context, which turned out to be false in the investigation.
During this time, the fact check team contacted Army Colonel (Retd) Vijay Acharya to know the truth of the regiment system in the army and the viral claim and at the very beginning of the conversation, he termed it as propaganda of the Pakistani Army. Describing the claim of the rebellion of Muslims and the presence of Muslim regiment in the 1965 war as Pakistan's propaganda, he said that propaganda is a major weapon of the Pakistani Army's fight against India and this work is done institutionally through the Pakistani Army's wing ISPR.
Colonel (Retd) Acharya said, "There has never been any Muslim regiment in the Indian Army. This is the propaganda of the Pakistani Army." He said, "No such incident has come to light in the Indian Army so far when soldiers refused to go to fight during the war."
He said, "Sikh regiment is present in the Indian army and it is the only regiment whose name is based on a particular religion, but it does not mean that only people of Sikh religion are recruited in this regiment. Similarly, calling it a Bihar regiment does not mean that only people of Bihar will be recruited in it."
Acharya said, "For example, the number of Muslim soldiers is more in the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry. They are also present in the Artillery and Armed Corps. But it is wrong to say that only people of the Sikh religion will be present in the Sikh regiment. As far as pre-dominance is concerned, it can be seen, but it is not possible that only Rajputs will be in the Rajput regiment."
Acharya explained that identity-based regiments were formed during British rule and the reason behind this was the classification of 'martial' and 'non-martial' races. But after independence, the process of making this classification inclusive began and over time the form of identity-based regiments changed completely. After the wars of 1965 and 1971, the process of changing this system accelerated and at present the current enrolment system of the Army is based on the proportional system of the state's population.
Conclusion
The viral post claiming that Muslim soldiers did not fight against Pakistan during the 1965 Indo-Pak war is fake. The Indian Army never had a Muslim regiment, which is being claimed to have been disbanded after the 1965 war.
Claim Review: Muslim regiment was disbanded after the 1965 Indo-Pak war.
Claimed By: Tipline User
Fact Check: False
(Disclaimer: This story was originally published by Vishvas News, and republished by India TV as part of the Shakti Collective.)
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