Fact Check: Viral Video of Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai Talking About ‘Saffronisation’ Of the Indian Army Is A Deepfake

New Delhi (Vishvas News). A video purportedly showing Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai expressing serious concerns about the ‘saffronisation’ of the Indian Armed Forces is viral on social media. 

Vishvas News investigated and found that this is a deepfake video, edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the original video, Lieutenant General Ghai did not talk about the “saffronisation” of the Indian Army.

What’s viral?

Facebook user ‘Harrishgowda’ shared the viral video (archived link) on October 24, 2025. The logo of the TV news channel Republic TV is visible in the video. In this 35-second footage, Lt Gen Ghai can allegedly be heard saying, “The growing influence of saffron politics will destroy the core values ​​of the Indian Army.” He can also be heard discussing religious polarisation, internal distrust, and weakening combat capabilities, as well as expressing concern over political polarisation within the Army.

Sharing the video, the user wrote, “Lieutenant General Rajeev Ghai, Indian Army. Strong words from a *serving general*. Full marks to him. Someone has guts.”

Investigation

To investigate this post, we analysed the video carefully and noticed the logo of the TV news channel Republic TV in the video. Upon investigation, we found this video live-streamed on Republic World’s YouTube channel on October 18, 2025. The footage was taken from Republic World’s ‘Forces First Conclave’. A review of the full original video confirms that Lt Gen Ghai was actually praising India’s military prowess, specifically discussing Operation Sindoor and describing the military’s success as ‘the result of political will and the coordination of military planning and execution’. None of the ‘saffronisation’ comments were made.

A close examination of the video shows tell-tale blurring around the lips, a common sign of AI video editing.

For confirmation, we contacted our partner, the Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU), an initiative of the Trusted Information Alliance (TIA). DAU’s expert team checked the video. The investigation found a high probability that the audio track was AI-created. ElevenLabs estimated an 84% probability of being AI-created.

Hiya estimated the audio to be 98% AI-generated.

Furthermore, Hive’s audio tool also indicated that the audio track was AI-generated.

We also analysed the video using the University of Buffalo’s Deepfake-O-Meter, and several indicators on the tool suggested AI manipulation in the video.

We also spoke with Azhar Machwe, a researcher working in AI and emerging technology, who confirmed that the video was AI-manipulated.

Harrishgowda, the Facebook user who shared the viral video, has over 500 followers.

Conclusion: Vishvas News investigated and found that the viral video of Lieutenant General Rajeev Ghai talking about the ‘saffronisation’ of the Indian Army is a deepfake. This video has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Tags

• Indian Army
• Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai
• Lt. Gen Rajiv Ghai
• saffronisation of the Indian Army;