Claim: A video shows Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of the right-wing Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), announcing that he will not be celebrating Pakistan’s Independence Day on 14 August 2023.
Fact: The video is from 2018, when Rehman made the announcement due to the alleged rigging of the July 2018 polls.
Fact or Fiction?
On 12 August 2023, Fayyaz Raja (@mfayyazraja) shared a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, with the claim that JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has announced he will not celebrate Independence Day this year.
The video is accompanied by the caption:
چودا (14) جماعتی اتحاد کے سربراہ کی 14 سیکنڈز کی وڈیو آگئی ملاں فضل کا 14 اگست کو یوم آزادی نہ منانے کا اعلان“
[A 14-second video of 14-party alliance’s chief Mullah Fazal announcing that they will not celebrate Independence Day on August 14.]”
Rehman, who is also the president of the ruling coalition known as the ‘Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), can be heard saying in the video that he will not be celebrating 14 August as Independence Day, but will instead celebrate the struggle of freedom.
Soch Fact Check used Google to search the phrase, “Maulana Fazlur Rehman says will not celebrate independence day,” and found articles by Samaa and Dawn published on 11 and 13 August 2018, respectively.
The report by Samaa mentioned that Rehman had said, “they will not be celebrating Independence Day on August 14 and will instead celebrate the struggle for freedom”.
Dawn reported at the time that the then Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leader Fazlur Rehman had reportedly said that, “he would not be celebrating Independence Day due to the alleged rigging of the July 25 polls that handed him a humiliating defeat.”
Pakistan’s opposition parties had alleged rigging in July 2018 polls. Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf won the election, but not an outright majority and formed a coalition government, according to a report by Voice of America.
Virality:
The claim can be found here, here, here, here, and here on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The tweet by @mfayyazraja gained significant traction with 117,700 views, 1,025 likes, 466 reposts, and 31 quote tweets.
The video was shared here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook.
Conclusion: An old video from 2018 is being reshared on social media. Rehman did not say he and his party will not be celebrating Pakistan’s 76th Independence Day.