'Never hid information on Operation Sindoor deaths': Defence ministry rebuts claims

NEW DELHI: : The defence ministry Saturday asserted that information about the deaths of six military personnel during the May 7-10 2025 Operation Sindoor was never hidden from the public, pointing out that in the press briefing held a day after operations were paused against Pakistan, the then Director General of Military Operations had mentioned the loss of the lives of the armed forces personnel and civilians. “These bravehearts were conferred with gallantry awards and this was published in the press release of Aug 14, 2025,” the ministry said, while pointing out that “Army’s official social media platforms carried tributes to these bravehearts without delay”. The ministry also rejected the claims circulating on social media and some media reports that defence minister Rajnath Singh, in his July 28 statement in Parliament, denied deaths of members of the services during military conflict with Pakistan. “These (posts) are deliberately misleading and factually incorrect,” it said. “Those who have sought to construct a controversy out of Raksha Mantri’s parliamentary address have done so by deliberately ignoring the full context of his remarks. It must be recalled that at the time of the address, a particularly persistent and dominant narrative had taken hold, both in certain sections of the media and on social media, which claimed Indian pilots had been lost during Op Sindoor. This narrative was false, yet it was being amplified aggressively with the clear intent of diminishing the success of the operation and demoralising public sentiment.” “It was in direct reference to this specific and mischievous narrative that the Raksha Mantri made the statement in question. His remarks were, therefore, a targeted and contextually specific response to a falsehood that was gaining dangerous traction at that moment,” the ministry stated.Get the latest India news and live updates. Download the TOI App.