Claim: Assistant Commissioner Karor Lal Esan issued a letter to Tehsildar Muhammad Iqbal and Naib Tehsildars Naeem Ud Din, Muhammad Tahir and Baz Khan demanding an explanation for their failure to attend a rally organized to express solidarity with the Pakistan Army. The letter specified that in case of a lack of response, disciplinary proceedings according to the Punjab Employees Efficiency Discipline Accountability (PEEDA) Act 2006 will begin.
Fact: AC Karor Lal Esan did not issue any such letter, in fact, he issued a letter clarifying that the letter being circulated in his name is fake.
On 13 November 2022, prominent YouTuber Imran Riaz Khan shared a tweet with a letter issued by the Assistant Commissioner (AC) of Karor Lal Esan, a city in the district Layyah of Punjab. The letter claims that the AC Karor Lal Esan demanded an explanation from a Tehsildar and three Naib Tehsildars for not attending a rally organized in support of the Pakistan military. The letter also claimed that if an adequate response is not submitted then disciplinary proceedings according to the PEEDA Act will be initiated.
The letter circulated online
Fact or Fiction?
Another letter appeared on Twitter, also claiming to be signed by AC Karor Lal Esan, clarifying that the letter reprimanding his subordinates is fake.
Soch Fact Check spoke directly to the assistant commissioner Mohsin Dhillon, who recently took charge. We also spoke to other officials at his office. All relevant parties confirmed that no letter reprimanding Naib Tehsildars for failing to attend a rally organized to express solidarity with the Pakistan Army was issued from his office.
However, the clarification letter later shared on Twitter by Shama Junejo was indeed issued by his office and the previous AC, in an attempt to clarify the misunderstanding caused by the fake letter.
Virality
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the 5-day period since 13 November 2022 to 17 November 2022 using the following search terms:
- “AC” “Karor Lal” “rally”
- “ریلی” “تحصیلداروں” “اسسٹنٹ کمشنر”
- “ریلی” “پاک فوج” “اسسٹنٹ کمشنر”
The tweet shared by Imran Riaz Khan reached 4,792,817 people on Twitter and received over 21,718 interactions.
Conclusion: AC Karor Lal Esan did not issue a letter reprimanding officers for not attending a rally organized in favor of the Pakistan Army.