Fact Check: Ravish Kumar explains nexus, funding by NDA to Pak Tehreek-e-Insaf? No, video is AI-manipulated
A video has been circulating online, claiming it shows Kumar alleging that NDA leaders are providing funds to PTI leaders of Pakistan to propagate India’s victory in “Operation Sindoor”.
By - Md Mahfooz Alam
Claim:The video shows journalist Ravish Kumar alleging that NDA leaders are providing funds to PTI leaders of Pakistan to propagate India’s victory in “Operation Sindoor”
Fact:The claim is false. The video has been manipulated by merging AI-generated audio.
As the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections concluded with Nitish Kumar taking oath as Chief Minister for the tenth time on November 20, a video of journalist Ravish Kumar discussing the Bihar elections and alleged funding to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the political party of Imran Khan, purportedly to propagate India’s victory in “Operation Sindoor”, has been circulating on social media.
In the video, Kumar allegedly speaks, “Today’s question is not just for the people of Bihar, but for every citizen of India who considers their vote a responsibility. Recently, elections were held in Bihar, but immediately after the elections, a piece of news has emerged that government channels will not show, but the public certainly wants to know.
Central agencies are investigating whether some NDA leaders from Bihar—yes, people like Nitish Kumar, Samrat Chaudhary, Vijay Kumar Sinha, and Upendra Kushwaha—provided funding to a Pakistani political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. PTI is the same party that is still considered responsible for waging a digital war against Pakistan's own army.”
He also allegedly says, “Was the purpose of this funding to create a rift within Pakistan's military, so that some Indian leaders or some government propaganda machinery could then claim that Modi ji won the war?
Where are these figures coming from? Which offshore accounts did the money go to? What is the name of the Dubai-based shell company? All of this is now with the agencies. But the government is silent.”
He concludes, “A government is about to be formed in the state of Bihar. But will that government take an oath under the burden of some political operation? Were the people's votes being used to influence the politics of another country?
This is not just a story. This is a mirror of India's politics, and the reflection in that mirror can break, and it can pierce too. I am only raising questions. You need answers, and so do I.”
An X user, Abubakar Qassam, who claims to be a journalist and with his account location pinned as Frace, shared the video with the caption, “Breaking News: Senior Indian Journalist Ravish Kumar explains how PTI of Pakistan established links with NDA in Bihar elections, funnelling Indian taxpayers' money right under the nose of the Modi Government to PTI leaders to prove that India won Op Sindoor.” (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found the claim false, as the video has been manipulated using AI.
We reviewed Ravish Kumar’s YouTube channel and found the video in question, a 25-minute commentary published on November 20.
In the video, Kumar offers a critical analysis of Bihar’s recent political developments following the formation of the new government. His commentary focuses heavily on Nitish Kumar’s retention as Chief Minister, suggesting that the BJP was compelled to accept the “status quo” despite its electoral strength.
Kumar questions the lack of enthusiasm at the oath-taking ceremony, contrasting it with a similar event in Maharashtra after the BJP-led Mahayuti landslide victory in 2024. Kumar portrays Nitish Kumar as an indispensable figure in Bihar’s politics, someone whose presence even the most powerful political forces are compelled to accommodate. However, nowhere in the video does Kumar discuss any alleged nexus between Bihar’s NDA leaders and Pakistan’s PTI, nor any claims of funds being funnelled to propagate India’s victory in Operation Sindoor.
What is flagging about the video?
We compared the viral video with the original and found that while Kumar’s voice does match, the tonality and modulation differ noticeably. The video is a sophisticated example of voice cloning and lip-syncing, but when placed alongside Kumar’s authentic footage, subtle inconsistencies in his natural delivery style become apparent, pointing to AI manipulation.
Tool Analysis
We extracted the audio from the video and subjected it to analysis using the AI-detection tool Deepfake-O-Meter. Four of its detectors indicated that the audio was likely AI-generated, with confidence scores of 96.5, 100, 100, and 94.4 per cent, respectively.
Therefore, we conclude that the viral video of Ravish Kumar has been manipulated by merging AI-generated audio. The claim of Ravish Kumar alleging that NDA leaders are providing funds to PTI leaders of Pakistan to propagate India’s victory in “Operation Sindoor” is false.
