Fact Check: Former Army Chief Manoj Pande calls Indian Army an ethnic force? No, video is AI-manipulated

Hyderabad: A video circulating on social media allegedly shows former Chief of Army Staff, Gen Manoj Pande (Retd.), saying the Indian Army is becoming an ethnic force because of supporting Israel.

In the 45-second viral clip, Pande can be heard saying, “You know, the biggest loss of supporting Israel, our Indian Army had always been trained to be an ethical force. The current situation is causing it to become an ethnic force. Mark my words, this situation is going towards a complete mutiny.”

He further says, “We have all seen what is happening in Assam. Our army is being trained by Israeli instructors whose first instruction is that all Muslims, Sikhs, Rengmas, and Kukis are not humans. They first teach how to dehumanise them, and then they are oppressed. This is not good. It will lead to an internal revolt if this continues.”

The video was shared in the context of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran. A user shared the clip on X, where it garnered 268 thousand views and over 5,000 likes. (Archive)

But did the former Chief of Army Staff make any such statement?

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video featuring Gen Manoj Pande (Retd.) was manipulated using AI. No reports claim he made any such statement about the Indian Army.

What did the news reports say?

Using relevant keywords, we searched online to see if any credible news outlet had reported on the former general’s alleged statement. We could not find any reports of Pande making any statement about the Army becoming an ethnic force or any other communal remark.

This hints that the video clip is not real.

Analysis of the video

Then, we reviewed the video carefully and found a few anomalies. The speaker’s mouth movements do not naturally align with the words being spoken, particularly at the 0:24-minute mark when the audio mentions ‘Israeli instructors’.

Furthermore, the voice has a consistent synthetic rhythm that is often found in AI-generated speech.

What did AI detection tools find?

We analysed the full audio using Hiya’s AI audio manipulation detection tool. The analysis returned a very low authenticity score and indicated that the voice is likely a deepfake.

We uploaded the video to Deepfake-O-Meter for further verification. The detection tool showed strong indicators that the clip had been manipulated using AI.

Indian govt debunks clip

MEA Fact Check, the official fact-checking unit of the Ministry of External Affairs, and PIB Fact Check refuted the claim on X, clarifying that the video has been manipulated using AI. They stated that a video of Manoj Pande’s speech has been manipulated by changing his statements using AI and shared online.

The original video

We found that the original video was published by the news agency Press Trust of India on X on March 14. A comparison of the viral clip with the original shows that they are the same, as the backdrop and the setting match exactly.

In the original video, Pande spoke about the Indian Army, security challenges and the need to be prepared for future threats. Nowhere in the speech did he mention the Indian Army becoming an ethnic force.

Therefore, we conclude that the claim is false.