‘What Is The Indian Army Afraid Of?’: Old, Unrelated Video Falsely Shared As Officers Evading Questions On Pahalgam Terror Attack

Claim

Indian Army officers walk out of a press conference as a journalist purportedly confronts them over an alleged refusal to fight Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, asking what the Army is afraid of.

The archived version of the post can be seen here.

Fact

Newschecker ran a reverse image search of keyframes, which led us to this X post by journalist Man Aman Singh Chhina, dated March 25, 2025, well before the attack on April 22, sharing the same video.

“Chief of Staff Western Command Lt Gen Mohit Wadhwa just scooted away with his senior officers after reading out a statement on the Patiala Colonel without taking any questions. The DGP also read out a statement and left but at least he has answered questions from the media in recent days. What is the Army afraid of?” read the post, further indicating that it is related to a different incident.

The same video was uploaded by Shiromani Akal Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Instagram on March 25, 2025, where Majithia lauds Chhina for continuously fearlessly asking questions to the DGP for justice for Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath and his family.

A relevant keyword search led us to this Youtube video of the press conference on the assault case of Colonel Bath, streamed live on March 25, 2025 and uploaded by the Government of Punjab. “Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, Mr Gaurav Yadav, IPS, jointly with Army officers will address a Press Conference at Punjab Bhawan, Sector 3, Chandigarh on Tuesday (March 25, 2025) at 3 PM,” read the description. 

During the 03:26-03:34 mark in the video, one can see the same sequence of events, including Yadav and Wadhwa ignoring questions from the journalists as they walk off, as seen in the viral footage, but from a different angle. We can clearly hear the journalist saying, “We were called saying that it will be a press conference”; “You can’t just come in and read statements and go”; and “What are you afraid of, what is the army afraid of”, the same as  what was heard in the viral video, hence confirming that it is not related to the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack. 

We learnt through multiple news reports on March 25, seen here and here, that Yadav and Wadhwa had issued a joint statement on the assault of serving Colonel Bath, reiterating the need for a fair and honest investigation in a transparent and a very time-bound manner to punish the guilty and restore the faith in the system. Bath accused 12 Punjab Police personnel of assaulting him and his son over a parking dispute on the intervening night of March 13-14 in Patiala.

Also Read: Major News Outlets Misreport Old Image As First Photo Of Terrorist Involved In Pahalgam Attack

Source
X post, Man Aman Singh Chhina, March 25, 2025
Youtube video, Government Of Punjab, March 25, 2025
The Tribune report, March 25, 2025