Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
An image showing a bird’s eye view of a massive gathering in the backdrop of a massive cut out of ousted Pakistan PM Imran Khan and the PTI flag is going viral on social media claiming that the picture was from a recent event in support of Imran Khan in Peshawar.
The image has been shared by Twitter user @FarooquiJameel who is a Broadcast Journalist at Boltnetwork and has 2,28,200 followers on the platform. The image has garnered 6,939 likes and 3,779 retweets on the platform along with the caption ‘Peshawar Right now’.
Newschecker found similar claims on Twitter and Facebook with similar captions.
Protests Against Imran Khan’s Ouster
In Pakistan, Imran Khan was ousted as Prime Minister on 10th April, 2022 after a no-confidence motion which saw the opposition parties secure 174 votes in a 342- member house, giving them the majority to elect a new prime minister. Thousands gathered across the country and held rallies in Karachi and Islamabad among other cities, calling for Imran Khan’s return to the PM office. In his addresses to the people of Pakistan, Imran Khan claimed that a foreign conspiracy was behind his removal from office.
Also read: Did MP Govt Set-Up Separate Liquor Shops For Women? No, Viral Newspaper Clipping From 2020
Fact Check/ Verification
Newschecker conducted a Google reverse image search on the image to ascertain its authenticity and found that the same image had been shared on Facebook by a Facebook page called ‘Islamabad – The Capital of Pakistan’ on 27th March, 2022 along with the caption ‘Imran Khan jalsa Night view’. Imran Khan was ousted as Prime Minister on 10th April, 2022.
Upon performing a keyword search, Newschecker found a news report by NDTV published on their website on 27th March, 2022 which carried the same image.
According to the report, Imran Khan addressed a massive public rally at Islamabad on 27th March, 2022 that saw “an outpouring of support from an enormous crowd as he faces increasing backlash from the Opposition for the country’s political crisis. PM Khan has called the rally the “biggest ever jalsa in the capital”.“
The report further added that it was rumoured that Imran Khan might quit at the massive rally amidst growing tension from the opposition, but instead Imran Khan announced that a foreign conspiracy was behind the growing mandate for his removal.
Upon further investigation, Newschecker found a tweet by user @ZeenoAliPhotos who had shared the same image in his tweet uploaded on 27th March, 2022 along with the caption ‘Aerial Views of Imran Khan Jalsa Today Parade Ground Islamabad.’
Conclusion
According to the investigation conducted by Newschecker, an old image of Islamabad is being shared as a recent image from Peshawar in support of Imran Khan.
Result: False context/ False
Our Sources
News report by NDTV
Facebook page of Islamabad- Capital of Pakistan
Twitter post by Zeeno Ali
If you would like us to fact check a claim, give feedback or lodge a complaint, WhatsApp us at 9999499044 or email us at checkthis@newschecker.in. You can also visit the Contact Us page and fill the form.
Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
