Claim: A video shows “Imran Khan zindabad” [Long live Imran Khan] slogans being chanted on former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s recent flight.
Fact: The caption of the post is false as the video actually features people chanting ‘Dar sahab zindabad.’ Moreover, it is from October 2023 and was recorded during Nawaz Sharif’s return to Pakistan after a self-imposed exile.
On 25 October 2024, Nawaz Sharif departed from Lahore on an extended trip abroad, which included meetings in various parts of the world. Against this backdrop, a video began circulating on social media with the claim that ‘Imran Khan zindabad’ was chanted on Sharif’s flight. The widely shared video was captioned:
_“لے جی ویڈیو آگئی 🛑*_
_*نواز شریف کے جہاز میں بھی عمران خان زندہ باد کے نعرے وجے تھے🔥*”
[Translated from Urdu: Here’s the video
Even on Nawaz Sharif’s plane, ‘Imran Khan zindabad’ slogans were heard.]
Nawaz Sharif travels abroad
On 25 October, Dunya News reported that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Mian Nawaz Sharif departed for Dubai from Lahore. According to the report, Sharif left at 9:00 am on a foreign airline flight.
Sharif stayed in Dubai for one day before continuing his journey to London, where he was expected to hold meetings, according to Business Recorder. The report added that Sharif was scheduled to travel to the US for a four-day visit on 29 October.
In November, he departed for Geneva from London on a four-day trip to join his daughter, the incumbent Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz, as reported by Geo News. On 18 November, the pair returned to Lahore amid speculations about their extended trip, according to The Express Tribune.
Fact or Fiction?
While the captions of the viral posts claim that ‘Imran Khan zindabad’ was chanted on Sharif’s flight, the accompanying video does not feature any such audio. To investigate, we reverse-searched keyframes of the viral video and found the original footage posted by Samaa TV’s on 21 October 2023. The video, titled “Heavy Fight in Nawaz Sharif’s Plane | Ishaq Dar In Action | SAMAA TV”, shows commotion among passengers during the flight.
At 0:56, a man appears in the video and states, “Koi nahi lara, brother. Aur jitnay bhi sahafi hain, unko roka ja raha hai” [No one is fighting, brother. And all the journalists are being stopped]. He then asks the person filming the video, “Aap gaye hain andar? Aapne footage li hai? Tou yehi baat hai na, aap log mil kar baat karein sab” [Have you gone inside? Did you take any footage? That’s the point, right? You all should discuss this together].
The video then cuts to Ishaq Dar, with people in the background chanting, “Dar sahab zindabad” [Long live Dar sahab]. This part of the clip is being circulated in the viral claim.
Although Dar himself is not audible in the video, journalists can later be heard requesting him to come forward and speak. However, at no point in this video or the one in the claim can anyone be heard chanting “Imran Khan zindabad.”
To further understand the context of the video, we conducted a keyword search using the terms “fight,” “Nawaz Sharif,” and “flight” and found that the incident had been covered by several news channels last year. According to a video report by ARY News from the same time, there was a scuffle between journalists and PML-N workers. The ARY reporter clarified, “It wasn’t exactly a scuffle, but people were pushed. When former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned to the aircraft from his terminal, many people from the economy class had moved to the business class, and they were then pushed back. This also caused some commotion in the economy class.”
The reporter further explained to the newscaster that “Among the group were two journalists and two workers, all of whom wanted to catch a glimpse of the former prime minister, record a video of him, or take a selfie with him from a distance. But, there wasn’t a major scuffle.” He further added that the incident had occurred during the earlier part of the flight, but it eventually settled, and the plane took off from Islamabad to Lahore.
Another video report by Geo News from a year ago showed commotion on the flight, with the newscaster explaining that the take-off was delayed for various reasons. Murtaza Ali Shah, a Geo News reporter who was present on the flight, explained to the newscaster that there were two reasons for the delay. He stated: “One was an issue involving two journalists trying to record footage, which led to an exchange of harsh words with some PML-N workers. This tense situation lasted for a few minutes. Additionally, Malik Noor Awan felt unwell and had to be deboarded, which caused further delays.” Shah additionally informed the newscaster that Azam Nazeer Tarar and Ishaq Dar were also present on the flight.
Neither of the reports by ARY News nor Geo News mentioned or featured any footage of slogans being chanted on the plane in favour of Imran Khan.
Therefore, Soch Fact Check concludes that the video in the viral claim is not from former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s recent flight. It is from his flight back to Pakistan in October 2023 and does not show people chanting slogans of “Imran Khan zindabad” [Long live Imran Khan] in this instance.
Virality
The claim was shared here, here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook. Archived here, here, here, here, here, and here.
On X, it was shared here and here. Archived here and here.
It was also shared on Instagram here, here, and here.
On Threads, it was shared here and here. Archived here and here.
Conclusion: A viral post claiming that a video shows ‘Imran Khan zindabad’ slogans being chanted on Nawaz Sharif’s flight is false. The video, which dates back to October 2023, features people chanting ‘Dar sahab zindabad’ instead.
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