Old videos of Indian Army thrashing Chinese is viral now as December 9 clash

Fact Check: Old videos of Indian Army thrashing Chinese is viral now as December 9 clash

Social media platforms on Tuesday evening were awash with videos of the Indian Armed Forces thrashing the Chinese PLA troops. Several users reposted the video claiming it was from the recent scuffle between Indian and Chinese armed forces in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang.

The video shows a contingent of Indian Army personnel beating the living daylights out of the intruding Chinese PLA forces. Several other social media users shared the viral video claiming that it was from the December 9 incident between the armies of the two countries.

While netizens claimed that the undated video shared on social media is from the recent skirmishes between the Indian and Chinese troops along the LAC in the Tawang sector, the clip is likely from another clash along the border.

Is the viral video from the December 9 clashes between Indian and Chinese forces?

Journalist Shiv Aroor took cognisance of the old video and issued a clarification over the attendant claims. Aroor tweeted the video, saying that while it is not clear when the video is from, it is certainly not from the December 9 incident.

Another Twitter user, Major Amit Bansal (Retd), a geostrategic expert, responded to Arror’s tweet saying that it was an old video as the area around the Yangtze, where the recent clashes took place, remains in the snow during this time of the year.

Journalist Aditya Raj Kaul called the video of Indian Army personnel thrashing the Chinese PLA interesting but added that the video is likely old. He, however, added that the video is from a similar area and post-Galwan 2020 clash.

He further cited a source, whom he believes to be trustworthy, to confirm that the video is from the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh. While the date of the video remains unclear, he added, the helmets and the deployment revealed that it is from Tawang. Kaul further quoted locals as saying that China has been attempting incursions regularly for years.

“On an average, there are 7-8 aggressive transgressions by the Chinese PLA in Tawang every year between May and October. Ongoing since last four decades. Indian troops were less in strength earlier as compared to PLA. Alert Indian troops are now equal to PLA since last few years,” Kaul said in a subsequent tweet.