Claim: A video is being shared online with the claim that it shows a woman who “turned against” the Aurat March after participating in it.
Fact: The woman was not a participant at Aurat March but a journalist who appears to have been part of a group of other YouTubers and Facebook page owners who ran a disinformation campaign against the women’s march.
On 8 March 2022, Facebook page ‘Pakistan Todays’ shared a video with the following title:
“عورت مارچ میں آئی لڑکی ہی عورت مارچ کے خلاف ہوگئی
[A girl who came to Aurat March turned against Aurat March]”
The woman in the video can be heard saying it was her “first experience” at Aurat March and that the rally was a “kanjar-khana [brothel]”. She also accused the organisers of the women’s march of kicking her out and said she was asked to only speak in favour of the demonstration, not against.
“عورت مارچ کی جو مینجمنٹ ہے, وہ روک رہی ہے ہمیں, کہ آپ بول نہیں سکتے, صرف آپ حق میں بول سکتے ہیں, مخالفت نہیں بول سکتے [The management of Aurat March is stopping us, that we shouldn’t speak, that we should only speak in favour and not against],” she alleged.
Such posts and videos appear frequently following the annual Aurat March, which is often targeted by disinformation campaigns that fuel backlash against the event and put the lives of those associated with it into jeopardy.
Soch Fact Check has previously debunked numerous claims about Pakistan’s Aurat March, including accusations of harassment by organisers, viral posts claiming that a majority of Pakistanis agree the march should be banned, reports on a quote by Prince Charles about women’s rights and Islam, images of allegedly blasphemous banners, slogans and other doctored posters, as well as news of a rally allegedly held by a group of religious parties alongside Aurat March 2020 in Islamabad.
Fact or fiction?
The woman in the video is Maryam Ikram, a journalist, anchorperson, and TV show host. According to her Facebook profile, she works as an Anchor at BOL News, Entertainment Show Host at UrduPoint.com, and Entertainment Show Host at TV Today.
She has a Facebook page, @maryamikram890, where she describes herself as a blogger. She was not simply an Aurat March participant, which makes the title of the video misleading.
Soch Fact Check also spoke to organisers of the Aurat March Lahore, who explained that Ikram was asked to leave the rally because she did not have a media pass, which was necessary for any journalist coming to cover the protest.
Organisers told Soch Fact Check that Ikram was ‘posing as a marcher’. Picture courtesy: Organisers of Aurat March Lahore
“This girl in yellow is a journalist, posing as a marcher, [and] gave interviews to every YouTube outlet,” an organiser said, adding that Ikram was told to leave right away.
Virality
The video has been watched by more than 3.7 million people and received 134,000 reactions, while over 4,100 users commented on it. Soch Fact Check also conducted a CrowdTangle analysis over the past 30-day period using the following search term:
“عورت مارچ میں آئی لڑکی ہی عورت مارچ کے خلاف ہوگئی
[A girl who came to Aurat March turned against Aurat March]”
The analysis revealed a whopping 183,206 interactions across over 130 posts.
The video was shared in numerous public groups on Facebook related to or focusing on the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), such as here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, as well as in groups related to opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), such as here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The video in question misleads viewers by claiming an Aurat March participant turned against the demonstration after participating in it. The woman in the video is, in fact, a journalist who was asked to leave the rally because she did not have a media pass.