Claim: A viral video shows people chanting slogans against Qazi Faez Isa during a flight.
Fact: The audio in the video is dubbed over footage of the former Chief Justice aboard a flight.
A video (archive) shared from the Facebook account PTI Islamabad shows Qazi Faez Isa on a plane with the text, “ایسا کرنا بہت ضروری ہے تاکہ آنے والے زمانہ میں یہ بڑے عہدے دار اپنے پیش رو کا انجام دیکھ کر سبق حاصل کریں اور غلط فیصلے نہ کریں”
[Translation: It is very important to do this so that in the future, these high-ranking officials can learn a lesson from the fate of their predecessors and avoid making wrong decisions.]
In the video, a man can be heard chanting, “Lanati, lanati, Qazi, lanati” [Cursed, cursed, Qazi, cursed]. This is followed by the same voice saying, “Qazi Faez Isa.” What comes next is audible but the words are unintelligible.
Qazi Faez Isa
Qazi Faez Isa was sworn in as the 29th Chief Justice of Pakistan in September 2023. His tenure as the CJP lasted till 25 October 2024. Some of his decisions provoked criticism from different political factions during his tenure. For instance, in January 2024, the Supreme Court (SC) annulled the Peshawar High Court’s order to reinstate Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s ‘bat’ symbol and deprived the party of its electoral symbol for the General Elections 2024. The judgement upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to revoke the symbol, citing PTI’s failure to produce sufficient evidence that intra-party elections were held, according to Dawn’s report, which quoted from the SC judgement. “According to the court, the ECP did not act in a mala fide manner nor was the PTI discriminated against in the present case,” the report added. The decision sparked anger amongst PTI members and supporters.
During a Supreme Court hearing on the formation of election tribunals in July 2024, tensions rose between the former Chief Justice and PTI lawyer Niazullah Niazi who objected to his inclusion in the bench. The former CJP swiftly dismissed and, criticised Niazi’s actions as contempt of the judiciary. The Express Tribune report further elaborated that the incident was part of ongoing tensions between the judiciary and PTI lawyers, with previous hearings witnessing similar clashes.
Moreover, in February 2024, a smear campaign was launched against the former CJP when the Supreme Court granted bail to an Ahmadi community member and ruled that blasphemy charges against him did not stand. The man, accused of blasphemy for distributing Islamic literature, had been in jail for 13 months, according to Reuters.
The smear campaign was condemned by the SC and Pakistan Bar Council but the controversy over the former CJPs’ remarks in the case intensified as political parties like PTI, JUI-F, and Jamaat-e-Islami joined the movement, The Express Tribune reported. These parties urged the former Chief Justice to revisit his verdict in the case, adding a political layer to a religious matter.
Most recently, in response to the decision, the former CJP was allegedly heckled at a local doughnut shop in Islamabad while accompanied by his wife and daughter.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes of the viral video to trace its origin and found that the video had appeared online as early as October 2024. X user @Atifrauf79 had shared the video with the caption: “وہ چہتا تو بزنس کلاس میں سفر کر سکتا تھا لیکن وہ ریٹائر منٹ کے بعد بھی سادگی کی زندگی گزارنا بہتر سمجھا اور اپنی اہلیہ کے ساتھ اکونومی کلاس میں عام مسافروں کے ساتھ سفر کیا ۔
کیونکہ حسٹس فائض عیسی ایک عظیم آدمی ہے ❤️👏”
[He could have traveled in business class if he wanted, but he preferred to live a simple life even after retirement and traveled with his wife in economy class with ordinary passengers.
Because Justice Faiz Isa is a great man ❤️👏]
The video in the X post, originally shared on TikTok (archive), appears to feature the original audio in which the former chief justice is faintly audible. It was presumably filmed by another passenger on the plane. However, no chants against Qazi Faez Isa can be heard in the background.
Shaur Azher, an audio engineer at Soch Videos, conducted an audio forensic analysis of both versions of the video and identified key differences that suggest the viral video is fake. According to Azher, the chants in the viral video exhibit significant natural reverb, which suggests the audio was likely recorded in an open space, such as a room or alley. In contrast, airplanes are enclosed environments where sound absorption by seating and the narrow cabin structure minimises or eliminates natural reverb.
In addition, Azher stated that the chants in the viral video maintain a uniform volume, making all voices sound equally direct. In the original audio of any video, however, voices would vary in intensity based on their proximity to the microphone. For example, voices closer to the recorder would sound louder and more defined, while those farther away would be softer and less distinct.
He further added that authentic airplane sounds, such as engine noise, cabin announcements, or the sound of passengers murmuring, are missing from the video being fact-checked.
In contrast, the audio of the video shared on TikTok is more authentic. It contains recognisable airplane interior sounds, such as the engine and luggage handling noises, synchronised with visuals. Additionally, the video features subtle, realistic background murmurs typical of passengers on a flight.
“From a theoretical perspective, audio engineering principles confirm that reverb and voice uniformity are strong indicators of audio manipulation,” says Azher adding that, “authenticity in video evidence can often be validated by the synchronisation of environmental sounds and acoustic context matching the visual setting.”
Based on the audio forensics analysis, the video shared on Facebook appears to be fake as the reverb and uniform voice proximity are unnatural for an airplane environment. Conversely, the video shared on TikTok appears authentic, as its audio aligns with the acoustics expected within an airplane setting.
Virality
The video (archive) gained significant traction on Facebook accumulating over 92,000 likes and 32,000 shares.
Conclusion: A video of people chanting against Qazi Faez Isa during a flight is not authentic. Its audio was likely dubbed and recorded in a different environment, and the original version of the video does not show any such incident.
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Background image in cover photo: Islamabad Post
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