Claim: A video shows PTI supporters from the recent protests in Islamabad sleeping on the capital’s roads.
Fact: The first part of the video shows Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) members in Rawalpindi, and the second part shows Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) protesters in Faizabad.
The city of Islamabad was on lockdown since 24 November 2024 in response to the large-scale protests of PTI supporters. After a series of clashes with security forces on 26 November 2024, protesters dispersed late at night, and the protest was temporarily suspended the next day, as seen here and here.
On 27 November 2024, social media users on X (formerly Twitter) shared a video, claiming it showed PTI protesters sleeping on the roads and greenbelts of Islamabad.
Fact or Fiction?
Conducting a reverse-image search of the keyframes of the video, Soch Fact Check found that the first part of the footage, which shows a wide road lined with people lying on mats, is actually a scene from the Jamaat-e-Islami’s sit-in that took place in Rawalpindi between the end of July and start of August 2024. The main purpose of the sit-in was to protest against “high electricity prices, exorbitant taxes, and inflation”.
We found the earliest instance of this video on Facebook, dated 27 July 2024. Though the video’s caption does not make explicit reference to the sit-in or its location, the user who posted it appears to be a member of Jamaat-e-Islami, as seen here. Moreover, it is not possible that the people in the video are PTI supporters from the recent protests, as the call to gather in Islamabad was issued much later in November by the jailed former premier Imran Khan on his X account.
The video was also found here on Instagram, dated 27 July, with the caption:
“مہنگائی کے خلاف امن مارچ راولپنڈی لیاقت باغ کے پاس رات کو وہاں پر ہی موجود ہے”
According to Google Translate, this states:
“Peace March Against Inflation Rawalpindi near Liaquat Bagh remains there at night”
We then came across another instance of the video on Facebook, dated 28 July 2024, with the caption “JI Dharna, #Rawalpindi”. “JI” is the abbreviation for Jamaat-e-Islami, commonly used by the news media.
Another instance of the video on Instagram from 27 July features Urdu text in the footage, which reads: “!جماعت اسلامی والے مری روڈ پر مہنگی بجلی اور ظالمانہ ٹیکسز کے خلاف دھرنا دے کر بیٹھ گئے”
According to Google Translate, this reads as follows in English: “Jamaat-e-Islami people sat on Murree Road against expensive electricity and oppressive taxes.”
Hence, we conclude that the first part of the video in the claim, which shows people lying on mats on the road, is from Jamaat-e-Islami’s two-week long sit-in from a few months ago.
The second part of the video shows people lying on a greenbelt, after which the camera pans to the left, revealing a large park where more people are resting.
A reverse-image search of the key frames of this part of the video only yielded results that suggested it was from the recent protests in Islamabad. Soch Fact Check then came across other posts that displayed only the second half of the video in the claim. One such post was this, and the comments section revealed that this video may be from the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) Faizabad sit-in which lasted from 13 July to 20 July 2024. TLP protested the war in Gaza and demanded that the government label the Israeli Prime Minister a terrorist, boycott Israeli products, and ensure the provision of medical and food assistance to Palestinians.
Conducting a keyword search on Facebook for “TLP Faizabad”, we came across a post by The Pakistan that showed the second part of the video in the claim. According to part of the post’s caption, the video shows, “The protest by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) activists at Faizabad, the junction of Islamabad and Rawalpindi”. The same video was also found on the Instagram account of The Pakistan. It was also found here on Instagram, with the caption: “TLP at Faizabad Mureeroad #sitin #islamabad situation”.
Furthermore, we came across a video on X that showed the vast expanse of area occupied by the TLP protesters, a screenshot of which can be seen below:
Source: X.
As can be seen, the main road from left to right splits into three narrower roads, two that go straight and one that hooks to the left. Zooming into the part of the photo where the road branches to the left, four individual road signs can also be seen:
Source: X.
The same junction and the four road signs are also visible in the second part of the video in the claim, as shown below:
Source: X. Source: X. Source: X.
Hence, the second part of the video in the claim is from TLP’s Faizabad sit-in in July 2024.
Again, it should be noted that, similar to the JI sit-in, the TLP’s sit-in also preceded the call to gather in Islamabad that was issued in November by the former premier Imran Khan.
Soch Fact Check thus rates this claim as false.
Virality
The video on X has amassed 200.2 K views.
On X, can be found here, here, here, here, and here.
On YouTube, it can be found here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The video in the claim shows sit-ins by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) that were held between July and August 2024. It does not show PTI supporters during the recent protests in Islamabad.
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Background image in cover photo: DW
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