Claim: A video shows police firing tear gas shells to disperse PTI protests.
Fact: The video in question is from a February 2021 protest at D Chowk where the police used tear gas to disperse government employees who were protesting for a pay raise.
A video was shared by former Human Rights minister Shireen Mazari with the caption, “Imported govt & their Handlers democracy in action in Islamabad on 25May- clouds of tear gas fired by police & rangers along with rubber bullets & stone-pelting. We were there – we were unarmed, peaceful protesters, some with families. Is this how Dark Shadows respect Pak citizens?”
Fact or Fiction?
The same video was tweeted by morning show host Shifa Yousufzai with a caption that says “Not Palestine and certainly not Kashmir. Can you guess the place”. This tweet was retweeted by a sitting minister of the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa cabinet Taimur Jhagra who added“Seriously, and they said Imran’s supporters are out to spread violence. Btw, the number of times I hear about @PPP_Org & their liberal & democratic values. To be an abettor to this crime… Well done @Shiffa_ZY for standing by the truth & exposing all. #CrimeMinisterRejected”
The video, in fact, is from February 2021 and was shared by talk show host Asma Shirazi. The protest was held by the All Government Employees Grand Alliance (AGEGA). The crowd dispersal was actually ordered by the then government led by Imran Khan. Reports about the incident can be seen here and here.
A screenshot of Shirazi’s tweet can be seen below:
Virality
The video is included in many Facebook posts, examples of which can be seen here, here and here. Meanwhile, posts from February 2021 can be seen here and here.
On Twitter, Yousufzai’s tweet received 4,433 Retweets, 702 Quote Tweets, and 192,900 views while Jhagra’s retweet received 201 Retweets and 29 Quote Tweets.
Conclusion: The video of the police shelling protestors with tear gas is not from PTI’s May 2022 protest but from an old 2021 protest held by federal government employees. Posts claiming the video is recent are false.