An Old Video Of A Press Conference Going Viral With False Claims Against The Indian Army.

Recently, a video went viral on social media with the claim that the Indian Army is leaving a meeting as they do not support a war between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack. The video shows men in uniform leaving a meeting hall, and a person asks, “What is the army afraid of? Why are they running away like this? What a shame!”. Sharing the video, a user wrote, “Modi want war against Pakistan but the Indian Army is leaving, saying they will not declare war on Pakistan. Glad to see that they acknowledge that there’ll be unnecessary bl00dshed if any war happens.”

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However, as we investigated, we came to know that the claim was false. The viral video is old and unrelated to the Pahalgam attack. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check 

We started our investigation by taking some screenshots from the viral video and conducting a reverse image search. This led us to a Facebook post where the viral video was uploaded on 25 March 2025. The caption of the post read, “Patiala Colonel Case: DGP and Army officer left in the middle of press conference 🤭???”

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1LKGr2V86z

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The video predates the Pahalgam terror attack. 

Taking this clue, we conducted a relevant keyword search along with a reverse image search. This led us to a tweet from journalist Man Aman Chhina on 25 March 2025. The tweet, which contained the viral video, read, “Chief of Staff Western Command Lt Gen Mohit Wadhwa just scooted away with his senior officers after reading out a statement on the Patiala Colonel without taking any questions. 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?”

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Moving forward, we found a press conference uploaded on the official YouTube channel of ANI on 25 March 2025. The description of the video reads, “On Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath assaulted by Punjab Police personnel in Patiala, Lt Gen Mohit Wadhwa, Chief of Staff, HQ Western Command said, “…I am addressing you all about the unfortunate incident on the night of 13th March wherein a serving Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath of the Indian army was assaulted by certain Punjab policeman outside a Dhaba at Patiala…The officer was shifted from the Civil hospital to the military hospital and thereafter underwent treatment at Chandimandar at the Command Hospital and is presently recuperating from his injuries…The Punjab Police have regretted undesirable actions on the part of their personnel.”

According to reports, “In the early hours of March 14, a senior Army officer, Pushpinder Singh Bath, and his son, Angad SIngh, were allegedly assaulted by three Punjab Police inspectors in Patiala for around 45 minutes. The attack left the officer with a fractured arm, while his son suffered head injuries. Both are currently undergoing treatment at Rajendra Hospital in Patiala. Following the family’s repeated complaints, a total of 12 police officials were suspended.”

Further, we found a video of the press conference streamed on the YouTube channel “Government of Punjab” on 25 March 2025. The description of the video reads, “Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, Mr Gaurav Yadav, IPS, jointly with Army officers will address a Press Conference at Punjab Bhawan, Sector 3, Chandigarh on Tuesday (March 25, 2025) at 3 PM.” From the timestamp 3:26, we could hear the same questions asked by the journalist, but the video was shot from a different angle.

Another report can be read here.

This makes it clear that the viral video is old and unrelated to the Pahalgam terror attack.

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the claim is false. The viral video doesn’t show the Indian Army leaving a meeting as they do not support a war between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack. The video is old and shows a joint press conference by DGP of Punjab Police Gaurav Yadav and Lieutenant General Mohit Wadhwa regarding the assault of serving Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath and his son.