Claim: A post on social media claims that Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) withdrew its candidate from NA-230 in favour of ASWJ leader, Aurangzeb Farooqui.
Fact: The claim is false because the MQM-P didn’t nominate any candidate in the NA-230 (Malir II) constituency in Karachi as per the official record by the ECP and official statements by the MQM-P.
On 23 January 2024, a user posted a video (archived) on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption, “Terrible news!! MQM-P withdraws its candidate from NA-230, Malir Khi, in favor of Banned Sipah Sahaba pres Aurangzaib Farooqui. Making alliances with hate-mongers, terrorists & destroyers of peace & interfaith harmony your way of rebuilding Khi?”
In the 2-minute video, a group of men wearing various political party badges can be seen. It includes Aurangzeb Farooqui, a member of the Pakistan Rah-e-Haq Party (PRHP), a religio-political group associated with the banned Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), among others.
At the 29-second mark, a man can be heard saying “ I withdraw from NA-230 for my brother Farooqui sir and I declare my full support for him.”
In response to this individual, Farooqui says, “We have good relations with Mufti Riaz. We approached him today, and he declared support for us and has withdrawn in our favour from NA-230. I thank him and all of his peers.”
Fact or Fiction?
To investigate, Soch Fact Check checked the list of candidates for the upcoming general elections issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on 21 January 2024.
Pages 71 and 72 of the candidate list for the National Assembly seats from Sindh show the candidates contesting the election from the constituency NA-230. Amongst the 25 names enlisted, Farooqui’s name is visible but none of the candidates represent MQM-P. However, Soch Fact Check noticed that the only candidate with the name “Riaz” as mentioned in the viral video, is an independent candidate named “Riaz Raza”.
List of candidates from constituency NA-230
A keyword search of the name mentioned in the video, “Mufti Riaz Raza” led to a YouTube channel with the same name. The channel features videos of a religious scholar who appears to resemble the man in the video which was shared with the false claim. However, the YouTube channel or Google search did not provide any evidence that Mufti Riaz Raza is affiliated with the MQM-P.
Soch Fact Check also reached out to Dr Farooq Sattar – leader of MQM-P, who confirmed on call that no candidate of MQM-P is contesting elections from NA-230. Sattar also added that MQM-P is not supporting Aurangzeb Farooqui or any other candidate in the constituency either and shared the official statement by the party.
Screenshot of official statement by MQM-P. Courtesy: Dr Farooq Sattar
MQM-P also debunked the same claim on their unverified X account on 24 January 2024.
Virality
On X, the false claim received 63,800 views, 296 likes and 220 reposts at the time of writing. The archived versions can be seen here and here.
It was also posted here on Facebook.
Conclusion: The news of MQM-P withdrawing its candidate in favour of Pakistan Rah-e-Haq Party (PRHP) from NA-230 is false as MQM-P did not nominate any candidates for the constituency in the first place.
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Background image in cover photo: The Friday Times
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