Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif hit by distorted video of him 'belittling minister'

"What happened to Khawaja Asif was written in his fate," read an Urdu-language Facebook post shared by Qasim Khan Suri, a senior leader in the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

Asif was reportedly threatened on the London Underground on November 11, the latest in a spate of harassment cases involving Pakistani officials and politicians targeted in Britain, allegedly by PTI supporters (archived link).

He told Pakistan's Geo News he believed a PTI supporter was behind the attack, for which he had filed a formal complaint with police. PTI has denied any responsibility (archived link).

The post shows a video appearing to show three-time former prime minister Sharif saying: "The way Khawaja Asif was treated was written in his fate."

The Facebook post added: "Now they are calling their humiliations their fate," apparently referring to members of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.

The post garnered more than 111,000 views after it was shared on November 13.

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Screenshot of the false post taken December 5, 2024

The video made the rounds in similar Facebook and X posts, which racked up more than 200,000 views.

Sharif's PML-N heads a coalition government led by his brother -- after elections in February saw loyalists to ex-prime minister Imran Khan win the largest share of seats in parliament.

Khan has been jailed since August 2023, sidelined by dozens of legal cases he claims were confected to prevent his comeback in elections marred by rigging allegations.

Since the February vote, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has defied a government crackdown with regular rallies.

London press conference

Reverse image searches of the video found an Instagram post shared on November 14 by Sharif's PML-N party (archived link).

The post shows the same footage of Sharif alongside Asif and Maryam Nawaz Sharif -- chief minister of Punjab state and Nawaz Sharif's daughter.

Further keyword searches found a longer broadcast of the press conference shared by Pakistan's Samaa TV.

A screenshot comparison between the false post (right) and Sharif's London presser (left) can be seen below.

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Screenshot comparison between the false post (right) and Sharif's London presser (left)

At the 6.09 mark of Samaa TV's video, Sharif could be heard saying in Urdu: "The way Khawaja sahib (sir) was treated, it is written in their fate that they will just chase after cars."

"Chase after cars" appears to refer to previous incidents of PTI supporters heckling politicians and officials by chasing after their cars and chanting slogans against them.

"They have nothing better to do but to follow cars and chant slogans. This is their training and grooming. This is written in their fate," Sharif added.

Nowhere in the presser did Sharif criticise Asif.