1997. The winter air is crisp at the Shipki La post along the India-China border. A young company commander plummets nearly 400 feet down a cliff face, his body disappearing beneath the unforgiving Himalayan snow. Only his head remains visible, a dark spot against the white expanse. His men scramble down, racing against time and temperature to extract their officer from nature’s icy grip.

This is Gaurav Arya’s own account of the beginning of a lung infection that downgraded his fitness category and became a reason he eventually decided to cut short his military career. And so, from the disciplined ethos of the Indian Army, he made his way to the world of television and, along with it, provocation. 

From marching in crisp fatigues as a Gentleman Cadet of the Jessamy Company at the Officers Training Academy in Chennai to firing off fact-free rants on television and his own digital platforms, Arya’s career has taken a curious turn. The most glaring examples are his recent remarks calling Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi a “pig”, which compelled Indian diplomats to go into damage control, and his comments celebrating unverified reports about the Navy attacking the Karachi port.

Arya, however, has a record of contentious statements. 

In one instance, he claimed that Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw’s pension was stopped after the 1971 war and was restored only on his deathbed – a claim that was later debunked by multiple military historians. Arya has often put out exaggerated or factually incorrect information about defence operations. In 2019, he claimed that the BBC had fabricated its report on a protest in Soura, Srinagar. Arya insisted that there was no unrest and that all was well in the area. Ironically, even the Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed protests.

Is Major his actual rank?

The 53-year-old is the son of a decorated IPS officer from the 1960 batch of the Madhya Pradesh cadre. Arya studied history at St Stephen’s College in Delhi and joined the Indian Army in 1993 through the Short Service Commission. He entered the Officers Training Academy and was commissioned into the 17 Kumaon Regiment on March 5, 1994. 

Arya served in various postings, including Suratgarh, Gurdaspur, and Jammu and Kashmir. According to Arya’s blog posts, he left the force after a fall during a patrol in Shipki La in 1997, which allegedly led to serious lung complications due to prolonged exposure to snow. According to him, he chose to leave the force – a decision he said he will “always regret”.

But after his exit, Arya went on to publicly use the title of Major (Retd) – addressing himself as “Major Gaurav Arya (Veteran)” in his blogs.