Claim: Former Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan wrote a tweet asking former Prime Minister Imran Khan to call for public protests if it appears that local elections are being rigged to stop people voting for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Fact: The account responsible for the tweet appears to be impersonating Nisar. No such tweet was posted from Nisar’s official Twitter account, which is run by a social media team.
Chaudhry Nisar served as Interior Minister of Pakistan between 2013-2017 as a PML-N candidate. In 2018, he parted ways with the PML-N due to political differences and ran the 2018 general elections as an independent candidate. He currently serves as a minister in the Punjab Assembly.
Fact or fiction?
On 17 July 2022, Twitter user @Ch_NisarAli who claims to be Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, tweeted, “عمران خان کو چاہیے اگر ووٹرز کو #بلے_پہ_ٹھپہ لگانے سے روک رہے ہے یا دھاندلی کرنے سے باز نہیں اتے تو عوام کو باہر نکلنے کی کال دے،آخر یہ گُنڈا گردی کب تک برداشت کی جاۓ گی،باہر نکلے اور سیدھا کرے انہیں،الیکشن پُرامن کروانا الیکشن کمیشن کا کام ہے اور یہاں کتی چورا نال ملی ہوئی اے،”
This translates to: “If voters are being stopped from voting for the bat (PTI’s electoral symbol), or elections are being rigged, Imran Khan should call upon the public to come out. After all, till when will this bullying be endured? [The public] should and set them straight, conducting peaceful elections is the election commission’s job and here the dog is colluding with the thieves”.
This tweet was made in the context of Punjab by-elections held on 17 July 2022. Accounts of violence were reported during the election at multiple polling stations.
There has been some speculation about Chaudhry Nisar joining the PTI; however, he has maintained his independent status.
Earlier in March, former Prime Minister Imran Khan stated during a press talk that while the two often hold meetings, Chaudhry Nisar “will be making all political decisions himself”. Nisar, however, denied claims of the two meeting, stating that they had not met in the past year. He has so far maintained his status as an independent politician, refusing to align with any mainstream parties for short-term gains.
The Twitter account has also consistently tweeted and openly endorsed a pro-PTI narrative, which is contrary to Chaudhry Nisar’s public stance. More tweets from the imposter account can be found here and here. The latter tweet claims election rigging plans are being made prior to the election date. It is worth mentioning that despite allegations, PTI has managed to win 15 of 20 seats in the Punjab Assembly.
Soch Fact Check found that Chaudhry Nisar has an official Twitter account that is managed by his social media team. It is also linked to his Facebook and Instagram accounts. The accounts typically do not share political opinions and are mainly being used for promotional and campaigning purposes.
We also found that the official Twitter account is being followed by verified accounts of PML-N Information Secretary Azma Zahid Bukhari and the Vice President of the PML-N’s Punjab chapter, Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan. Moreover, this account was created in 2015 while the imposter account was created in 2021.
Soch Fact Check tried contacting Chaudhry Nisar via the email address provided on the website of the National Assembly of Pakistan; however, we had not received any response at the time of publishing.
Virality
A Facebook search showed that the text had been copied to three public statuses on Facebook. The false tweet received 1,327 likes, 385 retweets, and 14 replies. The fake account currently has 11,900 followers.
Conclusion: The Twitter account impersonating Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan is fake. Nisar has not openly endorsed PTI, as the account suggests.