Claim: A video shows Ali Amin Gandapur, Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a senior leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), apologising for the violent protests that erupted on 9 May 2023 following the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Fact: The video is misleading as it was altered to give a false impression. In the original video, Gandapur did not apologise for the 9 May riots. Instead, he stated that he would only apologise if his responsibility for the unrest could be proved.
On 11 August 2024, a user on X, Dr Syeda Sadaf, posted a video (archive) which makes it seem that Ali Amin Gandapur is apologising for the 9 May riots.
The caption of the post, when translated into English stated, “My job was to deliver this clip to you. Now you know better what to do. It was my mistake, and it was a mistake. I went to Corps Commander House Peshawar and apologised. Imran Khan also made mistakes, he should admit his mistakes and apologise. Khadija Shah, Yasmin Rashid, and Hammad Azhar, there are recordings that all of them are involved in terrorism. Important and respected people ask for forgiveness.”
Fact or Fiction?
To investigate, Soch Fact Check reverse-searched the video’s keyframes, and it led to a YouTube video published by City 41 on 3 August 2024. The footage shows Gandapur addressing the media outside Adiala prison in Rawalpindi.
At the 3:15 mark of the YouTube video, in response to one of the reporters present at the scene, Gandapur said that he would apologise if there was any proof of his mistakes showing that he was involved in the 9 May riots. In addition to this, he raised the question of who would issue an apology to him if his innocence in the matter is proven instead.
While talking about Imran Khan, he added that the former prime minister had preempted and warned the public about the attacks on him. Gandapur claimed that his party was not responsible for the riots, and that they were a part of a pre-planned scheme laid out to trap Imran Khan.
Gandapur added that there were no call recordings to prove the involvement of PTI members, including Khadija Shah, Yasmin Rashid, and Hammad Azhar, but they remained in jail on charges for the attacks on 9 May. Contrary to the post in question, Gandapur never mentioned them as terrorists. [Soch Fact Check cannot verify the claims about call records but only reports what CM KP said].
Gandapur cannot be heard issuing any apology for 9 May in a longer version of the same address either, which can be found on the YouTube channel of Express News.
Furthermore, Soch Fact Check noticed that the viral video was visibly altered as parts of Gandapur’s statement were broken up and edited into one clip to spread disinformation about the Chief Minister and his stance on the events of 9 May.
Virality
On X, the video received 88.4k views, 1,800 likes and 1,200 reposts.
It was also posted here on Instagram, and here on Facebook.
Conclusion: Ali Amin Gandapur did not apologise for the incidents of 9 May 2023 nor did he ask former Prime Minister Imran Khan to do the same. A video showing him as such was edited to spread false information about the political leader.
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