Claim: Former Human Rights minister, Shireen Mazari gave an interview to Rabwah Times saying that the PTI will follow its agreements with the Ahmadi community if given another chance.
Fact: The video clip of Shireen Mazari has been shared with a false claim in the caption. The clip is from her interview with Al Jazeera from 2019.
On 7 February 2024, a user posted a video (archive) on X (formerly Twitter) with the Urdu caption,
“تحریکِ انصاف یا تحریکِ احیائے قادیانیت؟
پی ٹی آئی کی اہم رکن اور عمران نیازی کی قریبی ساتھی شیریں مزاری نے قادیانیوں کے ٹی وی چینل Rabwa Times پر اعتراف کیا تھا کہ
پی ٹی آئی نے قادیانیوں کو حقوق دلانے کی بہت کوشش کی لیکن مسلمانوں کی طرف سے بہت زیادہ پریشر آ جاتا تھا؛
جس کی وجہ سے ہم اپنا کام پورا نہیں کر سکے اور اس لئے اب قادیانیوں سے معاہدہ کیا گیا ہے کہ اگر پی ٹی آئی کو اب دوبارہ چانس مل جاتا ہے تو ہم سب سے پہلے قادیانیوں کو پہلی ترجیح دیں گے
Translation
[Tehreek-e-Insaaf or Tehreek-e-Ihyaa-e-Qadiyanit? Shireen Mazari, an important member of PTI and a close associate of Imran Niazi, had admitted on Qadiani TV channel Rabwa Times that the PTI made many efforts to grant rights to Qadiani citizens but could not succeed with their work as they were always met with a lot of pressure from Muslims, and therefore, an agreement has now been made with the Qadianis that if the PTI is given another chance, Qadianis will be given priority.]
The three-minute-long video shows former human rights minister and ex-member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, (PTI) Shireen Mazari responding to journalist Mehdi Hassan in a video interview. In the clip, Hasan asks Mazari about the religious freedom Ahmadis have in Pakistan and how they can participate in politics.
In the days leading up to the general election of 2024, Soch Fact Check observed an influx of false and misleading claims meant to impact public opinion and voter behaviour. This video can be considered one such example of the misleading content that circulated on the internet.
Fact or Fiction?
After listening to the interview clip in the viral tweet, Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse image search on the keyframes of the video for further investigation. The result on Google led to a video published by Al Jazeera on 7 December 2019, titled, “Pakistan defends its rights record in Kashmir and Balochistan | UpFront (Headliner)”.
In the 15-minute long video interview, Mazari discusses human rights issues related to the Pulwama attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, enforced disappearances in Balochistan, and the blasphemy laws on religious minorities in Pakistan. She was also questioned about the performance of the PTI government.
At the 11:53 mark of the video, the same sequence corresponds with that of the false video. In this part of the video, the discussion was about religious minorities, where Hasan asks Mazari if Ahmadis are discriminated against and if they can participate in politics. Mazari asserts that Ahmedis are non-Muslims, according to the constitution, and can run for non-Muslim seats. The anchor then asks Mazari, “Ahmadis have to declare themselves non-Muslim to participate in Pakistani public life. Some would say that’s a form of apartheid.” She responds, saying, “There are no restrictions on public life but for elections, everyone has to sign a form declaring accepting the finality of the Prophet (Peace be upon him). Those who don’t are considered non-Muslims by the constitution and can only participate as non-muslims.”
The anchor then discusses the PTI’s stand on Atif Mian who was first appointed on the then Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Economic Advisory Council and was asked to step down after facing public backlash for being Ahmadi. In response, Mazari says, “Atif Mian lives in the United States and was not elected but was appointed as advisor.” She goes on to say that the PTI should have handled the situation better.
When Soch Fact Check watched the complete interview, we observed that there was no discussion of any agreement between the PTI and the Ahmadi community. Furthermore, it appears that Al Jazeera‘s logo was photoshopped with the logo of Rabwah Times in the viral video.
The interview was recorded back in 2019 when the government was run by the PTI; Mazari’s statements were not given in the context of the recent elections in Pakistan. It must be noted that Mazari quit the PTI and announced her retirement from politics in May 2023.
Virality
On X, the video with the false claim received 1,60,000 views, 1,240 reposts and 1,190 likes.
This is not the first time the video clip of Mazari’s interview has been shared with a false caption. It was previously shared with the same false claim in 2022, the archived versions of which can be seen here, here and here.
Conclusion: Shireen Mazari did not say that the Ahmadi community has an agreement with the PTI, which the latter would honour if voted in again. A clip of Mazari from a 2019 interview with Al Jazeera is being reshared with the Rabwah Times logo doctored over it.
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