Claim: Maryam Nawaz’s statement with regards to Shahbaz Sharif’s father being a businessman is a lie.
Fact: Shahbaz Sharif’s father was actually a businessman.
An edited video of Maryam Nawaz’s statement contradicting Shahbaz Sharif’s regarding his father, has gone viral on Twitter and Facebook. In this video Maryam Nawaz Sharif says that Shahbaz Sharif’s father was a businessman with an expansive business. Her statement is followed by a clip of Shahbaz Sharif addressing the Punjab Assembly, saying that his father belonged to a poor farmer’s household. This video was an attempt to prove that Maryam Nawaz is lying about Shahbaz Sharif’s father being a businessman.
However, that is misleading.
The original video of Shahbaz Sharif’s address to the session of Punjab Assembly on 18th May, 2016 can be viewed here. [3:16 – 4:07]
Shahbaz Sharif explains that his father was from a poor farmer’s family and he migrated to Pakistan from India where he started working as a laborer and eventually by 1972 owned Pakistan’s largest steelwork factory which was illegally confiscated by the state.
Dawn News also reported on the fact that Shahbaz Sharif’s father, Muhammad Sharif was an industrialist who founded the Ittefaq and Sharif Group. The News also reported on Nawaz Sharif’s father’s business relationship with KSA here. A clip of Shahbaz Sharif’s address to the Punjab Assembly has been taken out of context.
Summary: Viral video edited to make it look like Maryam Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif gave contradicting statements is misleading as Soch Fact Check discovered that the full video of Shahbaz Sharif’s address to the Punjab Assembly reveals that he corroborates Maryam Nawaz’s claim that his father was a businessman.
Research Associate: Areeba Fatima