Claim: A news grab suggests that Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) chief Sirajul Haq said that his party will end corruption along with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Fact: The photo is from a 22 March 2022 meeting when Bilawal offered condolences to the JI chief over his mother’s death. The meeting was followed by a media talk during which Haq did not make any such statement.
Fact or Fiction?
On 16 January 2023, Maleeha Hashmey shared a screenshot of Samaa TV’s bulletin. The tweet claims that Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq has said that his party will end corruption along with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Soch Fact Check found the claim to be false. A keyword search “Siraj ul Haq and Bilawal Bhutto speaks to press SAMAA TV “ on Google led to a video published on 22 March 2021 by SAMAA TV’s official YouTube account.
In the video titled, “Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami Siraj ul haq” the two leaders can be seen wearing the same attire as the viral screenshot. Bol News posted a longer version of the media talk.
Soch Fact Check got in touch with JI Pakistan’s social media head Shamsuddin Amjad who said, “The poster is fake. Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami did not make any such statement. Bilawal Bhutto came to offer condolences on Siraj ul Haq’s mother’s demise. This was followed by a media talk.”
Amjad also shared links to multiple posts by JI’s official Facebook account. The posts by Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan feature photos of the meeting between the two leaders on 22 March 2021.
A video of the presser was shared on the same date, during which Haq can be seen thanking PPP’s leadership for coming to JI headquarters in Lahore to express commiseration. Haq had said that JI wants to work with PPP and other parties on election reforms, accountability and the Kashmir issue.
Soch Fact Check ascertained that Haq did not make any such statement about ending corruption with PPP during the presser.
Virality:
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the seven-day period leading up to 20 January 2023 using the following search term:
- پیپلز پارٹی کے ساتھ مل کر کرپشن کا خاتمہ کریں گے سراج الحق
The search term turned up nine posts across 143 interactions.
Soch Fact Check also used Facebook’s search feature to check the virality of the claim with the same search term and found multiple posts carrying the viral claim.
The photo was shared here, here, here, here, here and here on Facebook.
The claim was also found here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
On Twitter, it was shared here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Conclusion: The news grab features a photo from a March 2022 meeting when Bilawal offered condolences to the JI chief over his mother’s demise. It was followed by a media talk during which Haq did not make any statement about ending corruption with PPP.