Claim: Journalist Hamid Mir challenged PML-N’s Rana Sanaullah to rebuff claims of the government meeting with Imran Khan and offering negotiations to him in jail.
Fact: The claim is false as Hamid Mir did not make any such post on X challenging Sanaullah. The screenshot being shared on social media is fake.
On 5 June 2024, an X (formerly Twitter) user posted an image (archive) with a caption saying Hamid Mir exposed all those who went to meet Imran Khan in jail.
The image in the post allegedly shows a screenshot of a tweet by journalist Hamid Mir. When translated into English, it reads, “ Mr Rana, it has been a week since my challenge but your reply has not come. Now listen to the second news, after Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif also went to meet Imran Khan in jail [and] offered negotiations but Imran rejected it saying he does not negotiate with thieves. Come on my show and prove that I am a liar, or admit that your entire state depends on inmate number 804.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check browsed the timeline of Mir’s X account but could not find any such tweet posted by him on 2 June 2024.
Moreover, the font in the screenshot of his alleged tweet is also different from the one that typically appears on X. On closer inspection, the tick mark is also missing from the blue verified sign indicating that the screenshot is doctored.
On 5 June, Mir debunked the claim himself. When translated into English, his tweet reads, “Nowadays fake tweets by Rana Sanaullah against me, and fake tweets by me against Rana Sanaullah are being spread on social media. My timeline can be checked to find out the truth of such tweets. I do criticize, but I do not speak in an insulting tone with anyone.”
In the same tweet, the journalist also shared a clip from an episode of his talk show, Capital Talk, in which the chairperson of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Punjab wing Rana Sanaullah appeared as a guest. In the video, Mir clarified that the screenshot of the tweet was fake and that he did not challenge or disrespect the PML-N leader on social media while Sanaullah agreed with him.
Virality
On X, the post of fake screenshot received 255.6K views, 9,000 likes and 4,700 reposts. The archived version can be seen here.
It was also shared here, here and here on Facebook.
Conclusion: A false post claimed that journalist Hamid Mir challenged PML-N member Rana Sanaullah to prove him wrong about the alleged meetings of Shehbaz and Nawaz Sharif with Imran Khan in prison. The screenshot of Hamid Mir’s tweet in the post is fake.
Background image in cover photo: ABC News
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