Claim: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has been killed after his convoy was fired upon.
Fact: The claim is false; no such firing incident occurred recently and Rehman is safe and alive. The video report contains unrelated and old footage.
On 8 April 2025, YouTube channel TRUE FACTS posted (archive) a video titled, “Maulana Fazal Ul Rehman Death in hospital | JUI-F Maulana Ka Imran khan Ke Bare Ma Aakhri Pegham#pti”. The portion in Roman Urdu translates to: “JUI-F Maulana’s last message about Imran Khan”.
A portion of the video’s description on YouTube states, “JUI-F Maulana Fazal ur Rehman Passed Away | Imran Khan PTI A Beautiful Tribute To Fazal ur Rehman #ImranKhan”.
The video’s thumbnail includes the text, “قتل ہونے سے تھوڑی دیر پہلے مولانا فضل الرحمن کے رولا دینے والے آخری الفاظ کپتان بارے کیا کہا ؟ ہر آنکھ اشکبار [What were Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s last words about the Kaptaan shortly before his assassination? Every eye is filled with tears].” It also contains multiple visuals, one of which appears to be an old photo of the JUI-F chief with blood added digitally over it, another shows five men near what looks like a dead body in a vehicle, a third depicting his party workers in a field, as well as images of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and Pakistan Army chief General Syed Asim Munir.
“Kaptaan”, Urdu for captain, is commonly used to refer to Khan who led the Pakistani cricket team in the 1980s and early 1990s.
The voiceover comprises half-baked sentences and what appears to be a snippet from an actual news report. It says that Rehman “crossed all the lines” in his “opposition towards Imran Khan”, that there was an attack and “heavy firing” on his convoy near Dera Ismail Khan, and that the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief was “critically injured”.
In addition, the voiceover promises to “share the complete video” of the apparent assassination and frequently refers to Fazlur Rehman as “Diesel”, a term used for the JUI-F chief years ago by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and the current minister of defence, Khawaja Asif.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check did not find any verifiable news reports by reputable media outlets or a statement in this regard by Rehman’s party, the JUI-F.
We also observed that at one point in the voiceover, a woman’s voice says, “Let’s get more details from our correspondent Zahid Mashwani,” who we found is an ARY News reporter. Using this information and relevant keywords, we were able to trace the video to an article about an actual firing incident on Rehman’s convoy from December 2023.
In the broadcast on ARY News’ YouTube channel, the anchorperson and Mashwani can be heard reporting on the firing incident that occurred in Dera Ismail Khan. The reporter clarified that Rehman escaped unhurt.
According to Dawn, the incident took place on 31 December 2023, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police saying the JUI-F chief was not present when his convoy was fired upon. It quoted District Police Officer (DPO) Rauf Kesrani as saying, “Vehicles part of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s convoy went to Yarak area for refuelling when the incident occurred” but he “was not present”.
The incident occurred a day after it was reported that the Interior Ministry had issued a letter warning of serious security threats to the lives of Rehman and Awami National Party (ANP) leader Aimal Wali Khan. It had urged “extreme caution and vigilance” and advised “necessary security arrangements”.
Other media outlets also reported on the firing incident in 2023.
As for the visuals in the thumbnail and in the video itself, we found the first one — allegedly of Fazlur Rehman with blood doctored on it — to be a screenshot from a video that was uploaded on Dailymotion on 29 April 2016. While it is titled “Leak Footage Of Maulana Fazal Ur Rehman In Hospital Watch,” we could not verify if it does indeed show the JUI-F chief. The same image was also posted on X (formerly Twitter) on 3 August 2018.
Soch Fact Check was unable to locate the source of the photo showing five men and a dead body in a vehicle.
We traced the third image — showing JUI-F’s political workers in a field — to a BBC Urdu report from 29 October 2019 where it is credited to the photographer S.S. Mirza.
The footage in the YouTube clip includes different snippets; the one that shows funeral prayers being offered appeared online as early as 30 October 2023 on TikTok. The other portion — which shows a large number of men walking about in a field — can be traced back to these videos that were uploaded to Facebook on 6 April 2025. Neither is related to Rehman.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes that the claim is false and was used as clickbait by the YouTube channel.
Virality
The clip by TRUE FACTS, which has over 13,600 subscribers, has been viewed over 33,570 times so far.
This is not the first time such a clickbait tactic has been deployed using Rehman’s name and linked to a death.
On 19 March 2025, Express News published a video titled, “JUI F Leader Passes Away | Fazal Ur Rehman | NSC Decision | 11 PM News Headlines | 19 March 2025.” Its thumbnail included the text “اہم سیاسی شخصیت۔۔افسوسناک خبر [Important political figure…tragic news]” and a photo with the Arabic phrase “إِنَّا لِلَّٰهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ [To God we belong and to Him we return].” Earlier that day, party leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed had passed away.
On 25 June 2021, YouTuber Zunaira Mahum posted a video with a thumbnail containing the text,”مولا نا فضل الرحمان کا انتقال اسپتال حالت تشویشناک مصنوعی سانس دی جا رہی ہے۔” [Maulana Fazlur Rehman passes away in hospital, condition critical, artificial respiration being given].
Conclusion: The claim is false and the video report contains unrelated and old footage. No such firing incident occurred recently and Rehman is safe and alive.
Background image in cover photo: MoulanaOfficial
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