Claim: According to a viral WhatsApp message, people in Lahore’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) have been handing out visiting cards laced with a debilitating drug called burundanga to unsuspecting motorists stopped at petrol stations in order to rob, kidnap or sexually assault them. Fact: No crime involving the use of burundanga-laced visiting cards has been […]
Claim: A picture shows some people, including a police officer, shifting Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan after he was injured in a shooting incident at a rally in Wazirabad in Punjab in November 2022. Fact: The picture is actually from 2013 when Imran Khan fell from an overcrowded platform at a campaign rally. On […]
Claim: A notification signed by the District Magistrate Islamabad announced a lockdown in Islamabad. According to this notification, except for essential services such as healthcare and medical supplies, all institutions are to remain closed and the province cordoned off. Fact: This notification is fake. On 3 November 2022, several social media users shared a notification […]
Claim: A video of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan, saying he has done “whatever [he] could do” and urging people to “take up [their] responsibility”, was taken as he gets treated in a hospital after he was attacked during an anti-government rally in Wazirabad. Fact: The video is, in fact, more than nine years […]
Claim: A picture shows Pakistan’s former prime minister and chief of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, lying on a stretcher after being wounded in a shooting incident during a rally he was leading towards Islamabad, Punjab, on 3 October 2022. Fact: The picture is not recent but, in fact, from 2014 when Khan was […]
Claim: Pakistan People’s Party has decided to suspend the membership of politician Aitzaz Ahsan over controversial remarks. Fact: Although there are demands within the party to suspend Aitzaz Ahsan, the Central Executive Committee of the party has made no such decision. On 14 October 2022, mainstream news websites and social media posts reported that Pakistan […]
Claim: A photo being shared on social media shows Russian President Vladimir Putin watching the news of the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) victory in the recent by-elections in Punjab, Pakistan. Fact: The photo doing the rounds on social media is doctored. It is actually from 26 January 2022 when Putin held a meeting with […]
Claim: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial during a hearing pertaining to the election of Punjab’s chief minister was reported as saying, “It is rainy season [but] no one brought pakoras for us,” according to a Geo News bulletin. Fact: Justice Bandial made no such comment; a Geo News bulletin was doctored to […]
Claim: A picture shows people stranded due to heavy monsoon flooding in Punjab in July 2022. Fact: The picture is misleading as it is not recent. It was taken on 23 July 2015 in Rajanpur. On 27 July 2022, Twitter user @shahzadShafi007 posted a picture showing people displaced by floods taking refuge on a charpoy […]
Claim: A picture shows Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz Sharif wearing a yellow kurta under a medium dark yellow, chequered blazer. Fact: The picture has been doctored. A yellow paint overlay appears to have been applied to Hamza Shahbaz’s blazer using a photo-editing application. The original photo shows Shahbaz […]
Claim: An image of the newly elected Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan sitting in an office in front of two flags — the Pakistan flag and the Government of Punjab flag — is being shared online with claim that “the flag of Azad Kashmir region is missing from the […]
Claim: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in Punjab has banned co-education in private colleges. Fact: The Punjab government has not banned co-education in private colleges. On 2 February 2022 at 4:33 AM, Pakistani TV channel 24NewsHD published a story on its website by reporter Akmal Soomro claiming the Punjab government had banned co-education in BS […]