Did Colonel Sofiya Qureshi Call Trishul Exercise A Political Stunt Before Bihar Polls?

A video going viral on social media shows Indian Army officer Colonel Sofiya Qureshi allegedly criticising the “saffronisation” of the force and calling the Trishul tri-services exercise political theatre before the Bihar elections.

In the video, Colonel Qureshi is purportedly heard saying, “Today, I stand here, not as a political pawn, but as a soldier of the Indian Army. For two and a half years, I have served my country with pride, until I realized we were being used as props to divide our own citizens. The saffronisation of our ranks is a betrayal for every oath we took.”

“Our job is to defend India, not the ideology of BJP or RSS. These so-called Trishul exercises before the Bihar elections are nothing but theater to fool the nation. Uniforms are being painted in ideology, not honor. This must stop now. If speaking the truth costs my uniform, so be it.” 

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Evidence

A keyword search for “Col Sofiya Qureshi Trishul exercise Bihar elections” and related terms produced no credible news reports or official records quoting her remarks.

A reverse image search of frames from the viral video led to a YouTube upload by ANI, dated October 31, 2025, showing Colonel Qureshi speaking at the Chanakya Defence Dialogue on the theme “Veer Yuva: Empowering Youth for India’s National Security.” The backdrop and setting matched the viral clip, but her actual speech made no mention of the “Trishul exercise” or “saffronisation.”

On analysing the viral video, her lip movements appeared unnatural and out of sync, suggesting manipulation.

To confirm, the clip was tested using multiple AI and deepfake detection tools:

• Hive Moderation: Found a 99.8% probability of AI-generated content.
• Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector: Marked the audio as “likely deepfake.”
• Resemble AI: Detected the voice as fake.
• ElevenLabs Detector: Found a 98% probability that the voice was created using its platform.

Additionally, the Fact Check unit of Government’s PIB flagged the viral video as fake, clarifying: “Colonel Sofiya Qureshi has NOT made any such statement.”

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Verdict

The video showing Colonel Sofiya Qureshi calling the Trishul exercise “theatre before the Bihar polls” is AI-generated. The speech was digitally fabricated using deepfake technology. The original video from ANI shows her addressing a youth-focused defence dialogue with no political remarks.

FAQs

Q1. What does the viral video claim?
It falsely claims that Colonel Sofiya Qureshi called the Trishul exercise “political theatre before the Bihar polls” and criticised “saffronisation” in the Army.

Q2. Did Colonel Qureshi actually make such comments?
No. There is no record or credible report of her making any such remarks. The viral video is a deepfake.

Q3. How was the video confirmed to be fake?
AI detection tools such as Hive Moderation, Hiya, Resemble AI, and ElevenLabs confirmed a high probability of synthetic manipulation in both visuals and audio.

Q4. Has any official body responded?
Yes. The government’s PIB Fact Check unit publicly clarified that the video is fake and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi made no such statement.

Sources
YouTube Video By ANI, Dated October 31, 2025
Hive Moderation Website
Resemble AI Website
ElevenLabs Detector Website
Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector
X Post By PIB Fact Check, Dated November 3, 2025