Clip shows old press briefing, not Indian army admitting 'scared of Pakistan'

Published on May 8, 2025 at 08:04
3 min read
By Eyamin SAJID, AFP Bangladesh

India and Pakistan exchanged heavy artillery along their contested frontier in a major escalation following the deadly April 22, 2025 attack on the Indian-run side of the disputed Kashmir region. But footage that ricocheted on social media does not show Indian military officials admitting they were incapable of fighting Pakistan, contrary to false claims on social media. The clip shows an old press briefing about a colonel who accused the police of assaulting him.

"Breaking News: Walking out of a meeting, Indian Army generals said, 'We are not capable of fighting a war against Pakistan,'" reads a Bengali-language Facebook post shared April 27, 2025.

"Modi still wants war, but his army isn't capable of fighting," it adds, referring to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A 19-second clip included in the post shows uniformed personnel leaving a meeting room while someone could be heard shouting: "You can't just come in and read statements and go. What are you afraid of? What is the army scared of?"

The clip has been viewed more than 55,000 times and has also appeared in similar posts elsewhere on Facebook.

Screenshot of the false post taken on May 5, 2025

India and Pakistan exchanged heavy artillery along their contested frontier in Kashmir in a major escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbours (archived link).

At least 43 deaths have been reported so far, with Islamabad saying 31 civilians were killed by the Indian strikes and firing along the border, and New Delhi adding at least 12 dead from Pakistani shelling (archived link).

India accuses Pakistan of backing the deadliest attack in years on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, 2025 in which 26 men were killed. Pakistan rejects the charge.

The circulating clip, however, is unrelated to the latest crisis.

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes found Man Aman Singh Chhina, a reporter for The Indian Express newspaper, posted the clip on X on March 25, 2025 (archived here and here).

"Chief of Staff Western Command Lt Gen Mohit Madhwa just scooted away with his senior officers after reading out a statement on the Patiala Colonel without taking any questions," reads its caption.

"The DGP also read out a statement and left but at least he has answered questions of media in recent days. What is the Army afraid of?"

Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and the footage from X

The press briefing relates to the case of soldier Pushpinder Singh Bath who accused police in India's Punjab state of assaulting him and his son, according to multiple local reports (archived here and here).

Lt Gen Mohit Wadhwa, chief of the army's western command, and Punjab police head Gaurav Yadav read statements informing local journalists they would probe the case, according to an article from The New Indian Express (archived link).

The officials did not take questions afterwards, as seen in a video from another angle posted by Punjab's government on YouTube (archived link).

AFP has debunked misinformation spreading following the Kashmir attack here, here and here.

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