Following the attack on terrorist group JeM at Balakot in Pakistan, several viral posts, messages and news were shared on social media. One of the many viral posts contained pictures of Indian Female Fighter Pilots claimed to be involved in the air strike carried out by India on the Pakistan terror group. One of the involved according to those posts, was a female IAF officer Urvisha Jariwala and it was also given that she studied in Bhulka Bhavan school in Surat. Several people shared this specific post and commenting on how they are immensely proud of female participation in the IAF.

Similar claims are being made on Whatsapp as well.

Truth

A reverse image search revealed that the woman in the picture is not Urvisha but Sneha Shekhawat. A website called Bharat Rakshak, which contains a database of Indian Air Force, has listed Shekhawat as an IAF officer and has used the same photo in her profile.

Screenshot of the website Bharat Rakshak

Sneha’s significance was that she was the first ever woman to lead an IAF march during the Republic Day Parade 2012 as reported by Times of India. However, no official source has ever stated her participation in the border attack carried out by India in Pakistan. It was also verified that she is from Sikar in Rajasthan.

In 2015, Doordarshan had also introduced her as Sneha Shekhawat.

Was Sneha Shekhawat involved in the air strike in Balakot?

In any sensitive mission, the names of the officer are always kept confidential. There is no information available about the officers involved in the recent surgical strike conducted by Indian Airforce.

An anonymous source from IAF stated that no information regarding the attack will be shared as it is highly confidential and is not something that would be provided to the public. This anonymous claim from the Indian Air Force was given to BOOM after requesting them for official statements regarding the posts shared. Though the anonymous source from the IAF has not been named, no authentic and official news sites have reported about the details of the officers involved in the mission.

Other viral images of Female IAF pilots

Another image of Urvisha Jariwala was shared on Facebook to claim that was the woman pilot involved in the air strike.

It can be seen that several other pictures with similar or the same information was being circulated on Facebook.

 screenshots from Facebook with misleading captions

Shown above are the three most shared posts apart from the previously mentioned one. All these posts are false and delusive and here’s why. These images had not mentioned the names of the ones in the post but claimed that they were involved in the IAF surgical attack. It can also be seen that they are virally shared even on Whatsapp. These posts also claimed similar news as the previous ones with pictures of different people. Reverse image searches show that the person in the first and third pictures is Avani Chaturvedi. She is a flight lieutenant and is one of the first women fighter pilots in India. She was also the first combat pilot along with two of her cohort, Mohana Singh (who is in the second picture) and Bhawana Kanth. They were also inducted in the IAF squadron in June 2016. These are the major achievements of those in the shared pictures but here again, no official sources site that they were involved in the IAF attack.

ANI's Tweet Screenshot 

Conclusion: The images of several women pilots were shared on social media with a misleading claim that they were involved in the Balakot air strike conducted by the Indian Air Force on 26th Feb. IAF hasn't revealed the identity of any officer involved in the mission.

We should refrain from spreading such posts with sensational claims and so-called facts especially with incidents related to the military or the country. It is sensitive and should be approached carefully and even if one feels the need to share such posts, serious steps should be taken to verify the authenticity and the background of the sources. It can be seen that mainstream media does not take verification very seriously but we can avoid the spread of fake news to great levels if we review our Facebook shares and Whatsapp messages to check whether they are true or fake.