Did Army Chief Announce The Removal Of 'Non-Caste Hindu Soldier'; Here's The Fact Check

The central government, on Monday, while debunking what it called a "deepfake video", alerted the public about the digitally altered video of Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi that is being circulated on social media sites.

The video is being circulated by several Pakistan-based propaganda accounts. The video is said to be "AI-generated" and created with the intention of instilling distrust against the armed forces in citizens.

The video, called the alleged removal of 'non-caste Hindu Soldiers', is an effort toward a supposed 'saffronization' drive ordered by the central government by 2028. The fact-check unit of the Press Information Bureau termed the video fabricated, which falsely claimed the removal of 50 per cent of 'non-Hindu soldiers'.

🚨 DEEPFAKE VIDEO ALERT! 🚨

Pakistani propaganda accounts are circulating a digitally altered video of the Chief of the Army Staff, General Upendra Dwivedi, making claims that 50% of the non caste Hindu soldiers are being removed from the Indian Army in a Saffronized India till… pic.twitter.com/WK0EZlopOx

— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) November 17, 2025

PIB's fact-check unit, through an X post, urged people not to engage with or circulate the video, saying, “Neither the Chief of the Army Staff, General Upendra Dwivedi, has made ANY such statement, nor has the Government of India passed any such orders."

The original video from a recent event held in Delhi, the curtain-raiser of the Chanakya Defence Dialogue. To further distinguish between original and fake videos, PIB also shared the original video in which the Army chief is heard making no such statements.

In the original video, General Upendra Dwivedi can be clearly heard discussing national security priorities, the importance of deterrence, and the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370. “Deterrence works when there is political will, trust in military power, and the required military capability. As of now, we have all three,” he said.

VIDEO | Delhi: At the curtain-raiser of the Chanakya Defence Dialogue, COAS Gen Upendra Dwivedi says, “Deterrence works when there is political will, trust in military power, and the required military capability. As of now, we have all three.”

On Jammu & Kashmir, he says, “There… pic.twitter.com/eBfas0mlLc

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 17, 2025

The government advised citizens to only rely on verified and official sources for information and not engage with suspicious content.