Video of deputy COAS Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai talking about saffronisation of Indian Army is a deepfake

A 35-second-long video showing the deputy chief of army staff, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, purportedly criticising the growing politicisation and ‘saffronisation’ of the Indian Army and stating that it fuels internal distrust and erodes core values of the armed forces is viral on social media

In the viral clip, Ghai is seen giving a speech. He says, “As a senior officer who has devoted decades to the service of this uniform, I say this with deep concern. The growing influence of saffron politics is corroding the core values of the Indian Army. Our strength has always been rooted in discipline, unity, and constitutional duty – not in religious polarisation. When ideology starts dictating loyalty, it fractures morale, fuels internal distrust, and weakens combat effectiveness. If this trend continues, we will not be defeated by an external enemy, but by the political poison spreading within our own ranks.”

X user @Baba_Thoka posted the viral video on October 23, claiming that Ghai said they would resist attempts to make the army subservient to Hindutva. Since then, it has been viewed almost 40,000 times. (Archive)

🚨Breaking News:
Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai (Retd) slams #BJP & #NarendraModi’s politics, warns that any saffronization or politicization of the Indian Armed Forces will destroy morale.
“We will resist all attempts to make the Indian Army subservient to Hindutva.” pic.twitter.com/1HKnvh0x4V

— Baba Thoka (@Baba_Thoka) October 23, 2025

Alt News also received multiple requests on its WhatsApp helpline (+91 76000 11160) to verify the authenticity of the video.

Fact Check

We noticed a Republic TV logo at the top-left corner of the video. Below the ‘R’ of the logo, there was also some garbled, distorted text. The bottom-right corner also had the ‘REP’ of Republic TV, and the name also appeared on the screen behind Lt. Gen Ghai while he spoke.

We checked to see if Republic World had uploaded the speech on their social media handles, and came across the full video on YouTube, which was livestreamed on October 18, under the banner ‘Forces First Conclave.’

We went through the full video and saw that Lt. Gen Rajiv Ghai had spoken at length about Operation Sindoor, commending the military planning and execution by the Indian Army. However, we could not find the part that is now viral section. This led us to think it may have been generated using AI.

On looking closely at the viral clip, we also noticed several inconsistencies in his lip movements as he began to speak, which was c clear sign that it was a deepfake.

We also ran the viral clip through Hive’s AI detection tool. According to the platform, there was a 99.4% possibility of the clip being artificially generated.

Moreover, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) clarified, through an X post, that the AI generated video was being circulated to mislead people and create distrust against the Indian Armed Forces.

🚨 Deepfake Video Alert 🚨

Pakistani propaganda accounts are circulating a digitally altered video of Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai with false claims suggesting he said that politicization or saffronization of the Indian Armed Forces would damage the morale of the Army… pic.twitter.com/NyOEz2E2af

— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) October 23, 2025

Based on these findings, we were able to conclude that the viral video, purportedly showing Lt. Gen Rajiv Ghai speaking about his concerns at the growing influence of ‘saffron politics’ in the Indian Army, was generated using AI and is a deepfake. In reality, the speech, delivered at the ‘Forces First Conclave’ on October 18, did not feature any such comment by the deputy chief of army staff.