Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, several posts (here, here, and here) are going viral on social media platforms claiming that Lt Gen M. V. Suchindra Kumar was removed from his position as head of the Northern Command by the Indian government in the aftermath of the incident. Few other posts also claim that Lt Gen M. V. Suchindra Kumar has been detained by the Indian government. Several Pakistani media outlets, including Times of Karachi, Dunya News, and Geo News Urdu, have also made similar claims. Through this article, let us fact-check the claims made in these posts.
Claim: Lt Gen M. V. Suchindra Kumar has been removed from his position as head of the Northern Command following the Pahalgam Terrorist attacks in April 2025.
Fact: Lt Gen M. V. Suchindra Kumar was not removed from his post following the Pahalgam incident. He retired from service on 30 April 2025 as scheduled, and his retirement had no connection to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, which occurred on 22 April 2025. His retirement date had been predetermined much before the incident. On 30 April 2025, the fact-checking unit of the Government of India’s Press Information Bureau clarified in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that the claims regarding Lt Gen M. V. Suchindra Kumar were false and confirmed that he was set to retire on that date. It is important to note that several Pakistani media outlets and pro-Pakistan social media users have been spreading these false claims. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To verify the veracity of the viral claim, we conducted a Google keyword search. This search led us to a press release by the Ministry of Defence dated 01 May 2025, which stated that Lieutenant General M. V. Suchindra Kumar had relinquished command of the Indian Army’s Northern Command on 30 April 2025, upon his retirement after reaching the age of superannuation.
During the search, we also came across multiple news reports (here, here) stating that Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma assumed charge as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Indian Army’s Northern Command on 01 May 2025. He succeeded Lt Gen M. V. Suchindra Kumar, who had retired on 30 April 2025.
We also found a post on X (formerly Twitter), shared by the Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADG PI) on 30 April 2025, which confirmed that Lt Gen M. V. Suchindra Kumar had relinquished command of the Indian Army’s Northern Command.
Additionally, we found a news report published by ‘Greater Kashmir’ on 20 April 2025, which stated that Lieutenant General M. V. Suchindra Kumar was due to retire on 30 April 2025 and that Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma would take over as the new Commander of the Northern Command, headquartered in Udhampur. According to this report, the outgoing Lt Gen Kumar had assumed command of the Northern Command in February 2024, succeeding Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, who is now the Army Chief. A report published by ‘United News of India’ on the same date corroborated this information.
From all this information, it is evident that Northern Commander Lt Gen M. V. Suchindra Kumar was not removed from his post following the Pahalgam incident. He retired from service as scheduled, and his retirement had no connection to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, which took place on 22 April 2025. His retirement date had been predetermined well in advance of the incident.
Furthermore, on 30 April 2025, the Government of India’s PIB Fact Check unit clarified in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that the viral claims regarding Lt Gen M. V. Suchindra Kumar were false. The post also confirmed that he was set to retire on 30 April 2025 and would be succeeded by Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma as the new Commander of the Army’s Northern Command. It should be noted that several Pakistani media outlets and pro-Pakistan social media users have been circulating these false claims.
Following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on 22 April 2025, which claimed the lives of 25 Indian and one Nepali citizen, the Indian Armed Forces launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ in the early hours of 07 May 2025 and destroyed multiple terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, from where attacks against India were allegedly being planned and directed. The Indian government stated that the operation targeted terrorist infrastructure at nine locations across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, emphasising that no Pakistani military installations were struck. It described the strikes as focused, measured, and non-escalatory (here). Pakistan also confirmed that Indian missiles had struck multiple locations inside Pakistani territory, including Kotli, Bahawalpur, Muridke, Bagh, and Muzaffarabad (here, here, and here). Citing Indian military sources, media reports indicated that at least 80 terrorists were killed during the operation. However, Pakistan stated that at least 26 civilians were killed and 46 others injured in the missile strikes. In response, cross-border shelling by Pakistani forces reportedly led to the deaths of at least nine civilians and injuries to 38 others in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Defence Ministry briefed the media on ‘Operation Sindoor’ at 10 a.m. on 07 May 2025 (here).
To sum it up, Lt Gen M. V. Suchindra Kumar was not removed from his position as the head of the Northern Command following the Pahalgam incident. He retired from service on 30 April 2025, as scheduled.
