Video shows old rally for Pakistan ex-PM Khan in Karachi, not 'Islamabad in 2024'

Published on October 11, 2024 at 08:09
3 min read
By Masroor GILANI, AFP Pakistan

Supporters of Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan attempted to seize the streets of the capital Islamabad in October 2024. A video of a massive demonstration circulating on social media, however, does not show the recent protest. The video, viewed tens of thousands of times, was actually filmed in the country's largest city Karachi and was earlier shared online following Khan's ouster in April 2022.

"D-Chowk Islamabad," read the Urdu-language caption alongside the video posted on Facebook on October 4, 2024.

"D-Chowk" refers to an interchange in Islamabad located near key buildings including the Parliament House, Presidential Palace and Supreme Court (archived link).

The video -- viewed more than 100,00 times -- shows a large crowd gathered at night on a wide road.

Screenshot taken on October 8, 2024 of the false Facebook post

The video was also shared alongside a similar false claim on YouTube here and here.

Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has been defying a crackdown to needle the government with regular demonstrations since the former leader was jailed on several charges in 2023.

He insists the charges against him, some of them still pending in the courts, were designed to prevent him from returning to office.

In early October PTI activists began driving to Islamabad from Khan's powerbase in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, but were met with shipping container roadblocks and volleys of tear gas (archived link).

Small and scattered convoys pressed in on Islamabad in defiance of the government, which approved troops for deployment on the streets.

The circulating video, however, was filmed in Karachi and does not show the recent demonstration.

Protest against ouster

A reverse image search of the video's keyframes found the same footage posted on Facebook on April 11, 2022 as Khan's supporters protested his ouster via a no-confidence motion in the parliament (archived link).

"Karachi's decision, Prime Minister Imran Khan and a self-reliant Pakistan," read the post's caption.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and the April 2022 Facebook video (right):

Screenshot comparison of the false post (left) and the April 2022 Facebook video (right)

PTI's verified account on X also shared a similar clip of the rally on April 11, 2022 with the caption: "Karachi rocked. Dear Chairman #ImranKhan, thank you for making us a Nation! What we are seeing across Pakistan today is a phenomenon, will never forget!" (archived link).

At the time, PTI announced the protest sites included the Millenium Mall in Karachi (archived link).

AFP confirmed the location of the video by comparing it with street imagery on Google Maps of buildings across the Millenium Mall (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and its corresponding Google Maps street view (right) with similarities highlighted:

Screenshot comparison of false post (left) and Google Maps street view (right) with similarities highlighted by AFP

AFP has repeatedly debunked misinformation about Khan.

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