FACT CHECK: Washington Post Did Not Publish Article About Sikh Separatist Leader Faking Attack

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

An image shared on Facebook claims The Washington Post published an article saying that Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun faked an attack on himself.

Verdict: False

The Washington Post did not publish this article. A Washington Post editor confirmed it was not published by the outlet.

Fact Check:

Social media users are claiming that The Washington Post posted an article claiming that the assassination plot against Pannun was staged. The alleged Washington Post headline reads, “An assassination plot on US soil reveals a darker side: Pannun may have staged attack on himself to implicate India.”

This claim is false. Check Your Fact could not find the article on The Washington Post’s website. A search of The Washington Post’s verified social media accounts also did not yield any results for the alleged article. (RELATED: Was Emmanuel Macron Booed At The Closing Ceremony Of The Paris Olympics?)

It appears that the image has been photoshopped from an article published by The Washington Post on the assassination plot. The original article is about the assassination plot and does not claim that it was staged. It is headlined, “An assassination plot on American soil reveals a darker side of Modi’s India.”

Gerry Shih, the India bureau chief for The Washington Post, confirmed on X that the claim was false.

“The viral post below is photoshopped, NOT a @washingtonpost story..Unfortunately, it already has 3.2K retweets—another Wednesday for the Indian social media disinfo factory…Fortunately, you can read the real story w this gift link and help share it,” Shih tweeted.

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
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