DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A viral video is being shared on WhatsApp and Twitter with the claim that the Indian government is planning to remove all Sikh soldiers from the Indian Army.
The poorly made video shows a meeting of the PM Narendra Modi with Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and claimed they were discussing the issue.
A person is heard saying in the video as: “Punjabi ko nikal do, so that I never have to fear kitne log army me jate hain. Nobody in the rest of India talks as much shit about how much they contribute to India as much as Punjabis. For the last two years, it has become sickening. Jaise Maratha regiment nahi hai, jaise South Indian soldiers nahin hain, and ek baar ye Punjabis nikal jayein na, to it will come to light to how effective they actually were. And I will tell you, koi difference nahi hoga. Ek-ek ko nikal do. Sare general, sare soldiers, you know, top level se bottom tak, har ek Punjabi ko nikal do pure army defence infrastructure se.”
The caption on Twitter handle said: “During Cabinet Committee Security Meeting Minister @ianuragthakur @DrSJaishankar Calls For Removal of #Sikhs From @adgpi #IndianArmy #IndiaStandsWithChanni v/s #BharatStandsWithModiJi”
FACT CHECK
Digiteye India took it up owing to its weird nature and cropping up on social media frequently. A frame-wise image was checked, it was realised that the clips were taken from the video of a Cabinet Committee on Security meeting that was held on December 8, 2021, when the nation witnessed the sad demise of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat in a chopper crash in Tamil Nadu. Here’s the orignal video:
The audio was not original either. It was actually taken from a discussion that took place on the social audio app Clubhouse. The video morphed with different audio track was uploaded soon after an alleged security breach that took place when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Punjab.
A Twitter user has pointed out the difference between the video of the meeting held on Dec 8 soon after the death of General Rawat. It was also seen uploaded by news agency ANI and other media outlets.
When the original CCS meeting video was checked the audio was not there though all other visuals remained the same. Hence, the audio was added to create the confusion that they were discussing the unreliable subject which was the removal of Sikh soldiers from the Indian Army.
Later, it was found that the audio track was taken from a discussion that happened on the Clubhouse app, with no relation to the video that was used.
Some Twitter users claimed that OpIndia Editor-in-chief Nupur Sharma was also part of the Clubhouse discussion and she clarified that the audio clip is from an old Clubhouse discussion. Soon after this video appeared, the PIB has refuted the claim. Some latest reports quoting Delhi Police attributed the origin of the video to Pakistan.
As per the report by news agency IANS, the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of Delhi Police, found that the video was morphed and a voice-over was superimposed, in which the alleged persons tried to show that the meeting was against the Sikh community.
Hence, the video was manipulated with a different and unrelated audio track to make the claim authentic and go viral owing to its weird nature. Evidently, no such issue is being considered by the Indian Army and the military is entirely bound by the Constitution of India with no religious overtones.
Claim
A viral video shows a clip from the Cabinet Committee on Security meeting where removal of all Sikhs from the army was being discussed.
Conclusion
The actual video of the Cabinet Committee on Security meeting that was held on December 8, 2021, after CDS General Bipin Rawat’s death in a chopper crash was doctored with a provocative allegation that they were discussing removal of the Sikh soldiers from the Indian Army. The audio track was taken from a discussion on Clubhouse social audio app.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
