Claim: In a handwritten letter, Assistant Commissioner of Rawalpindi Cantt, Qandeel Fatima Memon, filed complaints against PTI’s leaders.
Fact: The claim is false. Memon debunked the claim on X, confirming that she never wrote the letter and did not file any such complaints.
Elections 2024
Pakistan’s general elections were held on 8 February 2024. Protests have erupted across the country following allegations of widespread rigging during the general election, which were largely levelled by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) along with other political groups. Several PTI-backed independent candidates have filed petitions against the discrepancies between the data on Form 47, issued by the returning officers (ROs), and the data on Form 45, the primary document containing data on candidates’ votes per polling station.
Commissioner Rawalpindi’s statement and resignation
An image of the handwritten letter was shared a day after Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha claimed that the results of the 2024 general elections were “manipulated” under his watch and resigned from his position thereafter. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) strongly rejected the allegations and asked for further inquiry into the Commissioner’s claims.
However, soon after, on 22 February 2024, Chatha apologised to the election commission for levelling the allegations of rigging, adding that he was subject to a lot of pressure due to his upcoming retirement in March 2024 and was therefore coerced to make false allegations.
Fact or Fiction?
On 18 February 2024, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) member, Azhar Mashwani, shared an image (archive) of a handwritten letter on X accompanied by the following Urdu caption,
کمشنر راولپنڈی کی پریس کانفرنس اور انکشافات پر چیف الیکشن کمشنر اور چیف جسٹس کے خلاف FIR اور تحقیقات ہونی چاہیے تھیں لیکن یہاں قندیل فاطمہ اسسٹنٹ کمشنر راولپنڈی کینٹ سے PTI کے حماد اظہر، میاں اسلم اقبال اور زرتاج گل کےخلاف FIR کی درخواست دلوا دی گئی ہے-
[Translation: There should have been an FIR and investigation against the Chief Election Commissioner and the Chief Justice on the press conference and revelations of Commissioner Rawalpindi. But here, an FIR request has been submitted from Qandeel Fatima, assistant commissioner Rawalpindi Cantt against PTI’s Hammad Azhar, Mian Aslam Iqbal and Zartaj Gul.]
To investigate, Soch Fact Check contacted five police stations, including Cantt, R.A Bazar, Westridge, Race Course and Naseerabad which come under the Rawalpindi Cantt circle. However, the staff at the police stations refused to share any information saying they did not know of any such complaints.
AC Rawalpindi Cantt, Qandeel Fatima Memon issued a clarification on X herself, saying the letter is ‘fake’ as she did not submit such an application. She also mentions in the post that the letter does not have her signature and lacks an official stamp while adding that the Urdu spelling of her name is also incorrect.
Soch Fact Check has not yet received a direct response from Memon. The fact that no news of the arrest of PTI leaders Hammad Azhar, Mian Aslam Iqbal and Zartaj Gul has been reported as of the time of writing this article further raises questions on the credibility of the letter.
Virality
The viral letter received 517,900 views, 7,700 likes and 4,500 reposts on X.
On Facebook, the archived versions of the posts sharing the letter can be seen here and here.
Conclusion: A handwritten application allegedly attributed to Assistant Commissioner Rawalpindi, Qandeel Fatima Memon, is fake. She rebuffed the claim on X saying she did not file any application against PTI’s leaders.
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