Claim: A PTI protester in a shroud, apparently pretending to be dead, was photographed using a phone.
Fact: The image does not show a PTI protester. The image, originally shared in 2022, shows a child dressed as a corpse for Halloween.
On 23 November, X user @LegiMian shared an image (archive) of a shrouded person using a mobile phone with the caption, “آن لائن بزنس کا سنا تھا
یہ آن لائن انقلاب ، آن لائن جہاد اور آن لائن شہادت پہلی بار دیکھ رہا ہوں”
[Translated from Urdu: Heard of online business
I am seeing this online revolution, online jihad and online martyrdom for the first time]
Murtaza Solangi, journalist and caretaker Minister of Information and Broadcasting from August 2023 to March 2024, also shared the image (archive) on X, writing, “Last night some PTI dead bodies were found to be tech savvy enough to check social media before taking a dirt nap.”
PTI protest in Islamabad
Imran Khan, the jailed PTI founder and former prime minister, called on his supporters to gather for a protest at D-Chowk in Islamabad on 24 November 2024. In response, party leaders and supporters began mobilising from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and parts of Punjab toward the capital.
Read more: Islamabad Police did not chant Imran Khan’s name while marching
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi issued stern warnings against entering D-Chowk, with the police and law enforcement agencies deploying aggressive crowd control tactics. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters attempting to enter the area, actions which critics argue violated the right to peaceful assembly. According to BBC, at least six people were killed during the confrontation.While Dawn reported that, the number of casualties among PTI marchers is a significant point of dispute between the government and PTI. PTI claims that 6 to 20 supporters lost their lives due to law enforcement action, while the government denies any fatalities. Burials of several alleged victims in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were reported, but no autopsies were conducted, the report added.
On 26 November, Islamabad was cleared of protesters after the army was deployed and the Interior Ministry issued a notification invoking Article 245. The PTI announced a temporary suspension of the protest on the following day, citing “government brutality” and the authorities’ plans to turn the capital into a “slaughterhouse,” The Guardian reported. The party claimed dozens were killed in live firing by police and the army on Tuesday night, and released names of eight victims. “The Guardian could not verify PTI’s figures of the dead,” the report added.
Read more: No, these images have no connection to the PTI’s protest in Islamabad
Soch Fact Check has not yet been able to verify the number of deaths and injuries due to the internet shutdown and widespread press censorship.
Fact or Fiction?
X user @isthisannie shared a screenshot of Murtaza Solangi’s X post alongside another screenshot of an X post (archive) which made light of “Gaza’s martyrs”. The user wrote, “for those who think our comparisons of this regime and its touts to zïonists are exaggerated, here’s Murtaza Solangi not even bothering to keep up a pretence anymore.”
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched the image and found a fact check published on 30 October 2023 by The Quint, an Indian digital news platform specialising in enterprise journalism, ground reporting, and fact-checking through its IFCN-certified WebQoof initiative.
According to the fact check, the image of a person wrapped in a white sheet and using a phone went viral on social media with claims that it showed Gazans faking deaths amid the war in Gaza. However, The Quint’s investigation revealed that the image was originally shared by the Thai channel Morning News TV 3‘s Facebook page on 29 October 2022, along with three other photos of children. The post explained that a mother had dressed her children in costumes for a Halloween competition at a mall in Nakhon Ratchasima city and credited the photos to Surattana Sawadkit, the fact check added.
We checked Morning News TV 3‘s Facebook page, and the image is still available on their page with the caption, “This Halloween, many parents are sure to have fun catching their kids dressed up as cute ghosts, following Halloween festivities just a few days away.
Recently, another mother with a very creative idea caught her child dressed up as a Thai butterfly and put a frame holding an incense pot. Another one is a butterfly tied with a badge in a paper coffin. Participating in one of the famous shopping mall in the province Nakhon Ratchasima.
So I won the 3rd prize. Let’s conquer.”
The image has since become a meme template frequently shared on social media.
Virality
The image was shared here and here on X.
It was shared here, here, and here on Facebook.
On Threads, it was shared here.
Conclusion: The image of a shrouded person using a phone does not show a PTI protester. It was originally shared in October 2022 and shows a child dressed as a corpse for Halloween.
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Background image in cover photo: AFP
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