Claim: Senior politician and former National Assembly speaker Illahi Bukhsh Soomro passed away on 25 January 2024.
Fact: Soomro’s family members have confirmed to Soch Fact Check and multiple news organisations that he is alive.
On 25 January 2025 Business Recorder (later removed), Associated Press of Pakistan (later removed), Pakistan Today, The Frontier Post, Dunya News (later removed), GNN HD, SAMAA TV (later removed), The News Today, and several others published a news article claiming that former National Assembly Speaker, Ilahi Bukhsh Soomro has passed away and that the caretaker prime minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar has issued his condolences.
Ilahi Bukhsh Soomro from Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) was a speaker of the National Assembly from 16 February 1997 to 20 August 2001, according to the National Assembly’s official website.
Fact or Fiction?
On 26 January 2024, Hum News, Dawn News, and BBC iVerify venture with the CEJ (Center of Excellence in Journalism at the Institute of Business Administration in Karachi, Pakistan) all published fact checks confirming that the news regarding Soomro’s passing was false. All three organisations claim to have spoken to Soomro’s family members who confirmed the news of his passing is false .
In addition, Hum News clarified that Soomro’s wife has passed away and her burial took place at her ancestral graveyard in Jacobabad.
Articles published by the Business Recorder, SAMAA TV, and Dunya News were later taken off the platforms citing Error 404.
Soch Fact Check also independently reached out to Ilahi Bukhsh Soomro’s grandson who confirmed that Soomro is still alive.
On 25 January 2024 this photo was published on Facebook by Fida Hussain Soomro, Sattar Somro, and 95 others, confirming that the news of Ilahi Bukhsh Soomro’s death is false with the following caption:
اللّہ تعالیٰ بزرگ کا سایہ ہمارے اوپر دیر تک سلامت رکھے ( آمین)
سابق سپیکر قومی اسمبلی نواب الہی بخش سومرو صاحب کے انتقال کی خبر نجی ٹی وی چینل پر افواہیں بے بنیاد ہیں –
نواب الہی بخش سومرو صاحب اور اس کے پوتے سردارزادہ مولا بخش سومرو صاحب کی ابھی ابھی لی گئی ایک تازہ فوٹو
[May Allah Almighty keep the shadow of the elderly over us for a long time (ameen) News of the death of the former speaker of the National Assembly Nawab ilahi Bukhsh Soomro Sahab which is being aired on private TV channels is a rumour and it is baseless. This is a freshly taken photograph of Nawad Ilahi Bukhsh Soomro and his grandson Sardarzada Maula Bux Soomro.]
A reverse image search on Google did not show results of any instances when the photo was shared on the internet in the past, proving that the image published by Soomro’s family on Facebook is recent.
We also found this post on Facebook by Sardarzada Maula Bux Soomro,announcing the death of his grandmother, Ilahi Bukhsh Soomro’s wife, on 23 January 2024. The post further elaborates that her funeral prayers are scheduled for 24 January 2024 at 11am at 232, E.I.. Lines, Raja Ghazanfar Ali Road, Karachi and that her burial will take place in Jacobabad.
Virality
On Facebook we found posts sharing the same claim here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: Contrary to the viral claim, former speaker of the National Assembly Ilahi Bukhsh Soomro is alive.
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Background image in cover photo: Alchetron
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