Claim: A photo shows Dr Yasmin Rashid lying in a hospital bed with an oxygen mask after her health deteriorated twice in April and May 2024.
Fact: While reports say Dr Rashid was hospitalised in April 2024, the viral picture of her is from 2023.
On 20 April 2024, the Facebook page ‘Ali Farhan’ posted (archive) a picture showing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former health minister, Dr Yasmin Rashid, lying in a hospital bed with an oxygen mask on her face. A person can be seen standing beside her.
‘Ali Farhan’ captioned the photo as follows:
“ڈاکٹر یاسمین راشد کی طبیعت ناساز شدید سیکورٹی میں سروسز ہسپتال منتقل اللہ پاک مکمل شفا دے۔۔۔اور ظالموں کو تباہ کرے💔💔💔😭 بزدل قوم کی بہادر مائیں کیا یہ اپ لوگوں کو دہشت گرد لگتا ہے اتنا ظلم یہ ہم کبھی نہیں بھولیں گے
[Dr. Yasmin Rashid is unwell and transferred to Services Hospital in high security. May Allah give her complete recovery… and destroy the oppressors 💔💔💔😭 Brave mothers of a cowardly nation. Do you think this [person] is a terrorist? Such oppression! We will never forget it.]”
The picture — which went viral and was posted by other PTI leaders on their respective verified Facebook pages as well, the links to which are available in the ‘Virality’ section below — surfaced amid reports of the former minister being hospitalised for a “cough and throat discomfort”, according to news reports from 18 April.
Also read: Imran Khan is not being shifted from Adiala Jail to hospital
Dr Rashid — who is also the president of the PTI’s Punjab chapter — was brought from Lahore Central Jail, commonly known as Kot Lakhpat Jail, to Services Hospital Lahore amid high security, according to different reports from 18 April 2024. Pulmonologists conducted her check-up, another report stated.
She has been imprisoned for almost a year for multiple cases pertaining to the violent 9 May 2023 clashes that erupted after former prime minister and PTI founder, Imran Khan, was first arrested. She was indicted in the “May 9 arson and Shadman police station case” on 6 February 2024.
Also read: BBC did not broadcast video report that ‘debunked’ 9 May protests
The politician contested the 2024 general elections from the Lahore XIV (NA-130) constituency, running against former premier, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Supremo Nawaz Sharif, whom she claims to have defeated.
On 16 April, Dr Rashid “approached the election tribunal to nullify” Sharif’s victory, as she claims the results were manipulated, according to this report, which adds that she also accused the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of violating the law.
Read more: Yasmin Rashid’s video announcing PTI’s boycott of 2024 elections is AI-generated
Recently, the incarcerated PTI leader penned a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, criticising “‘political victimisation’ and repeated arrests of her party colleagues”.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched the viral image of Dr Yasmin Rashid in a hospital bed with an oxygen mask and found that it was originally published in May 2023.
The picture, which shows Rashid hospitalised after her health deteriorated in jail last year, was used as cover images in news reports published 14 May 2023 by Lahore News and The News.
Related: Old picture goes viral with claim that Sheikh Rashid is ‘hiding’ in hospital
The PTI leader was “taken into custody at Services Hospital, as she was wanted by the police in connection with three cases” comprising “serious charges, including sections pertaining to terrorism”, The News reported.
She was brought to the hospital by Kot Lakhpat Jail officials after she experienced breathing issues; shortly thereafter, she was rearrested.
Read more: Bushra Bibi was not shifted from Bani Gala to PIMS hospital
Videos and images included in the news reports on social media here, here, here, and here showed her wearing the same clothes, further confirming that the viral picture is from May 2023.
Photos of the hospitalised PTI leader from a different angle, shared by Geo News Urdu here and a Facebook user here, also corroborated the same.
At that time, Dawn News talk show host Adil Shahzeb had posted the uncropped version of the viral image, which also shows in full the person standing beside her.
Virality
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the 30-day period from 14 April 2024 to 14 May using the search term “ڈاکٹر یاسمین راشد کی طبیعت ناساز شدید سیکورٹی میں سروسز ہسپتال منتقل”. We found close to 190 posts that have garnered more than 41,500 interactions.
Some of the Facebook posts that gained significant traction can be found here, here, here, here, and here. PTI politicians Haleem Adil Sheikh, Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani, and Babar Saleem Swati also posted the image.
Related: Shaukat Khanum hospital is raising funds without any disruption
On X (formerly Twitter), the photo was posted here, here, here, here, and here.
On 22 May, the PTI leader was hospitalised again — this time for “stomach issue” — after she fell unconscious in the prison, her lawyer said, alleging “lack of timely treatment”. Some media outlets, including The Express Tribune, again published the misleading image of her.
Conclusion: While reports say Dr Yasmin Rashid was indeed hospitalised in April and May 2024, the viral picture of her is from 2023.
Background image in cover photo: DrYasmeenRashidOfficial
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