Clip of Nawaz Sharif's son-in-law 'praising Imran Khan' is doctored

Published on February 26, 2025 at 09:45
3 min read
By Rimal FARRUKH, AFP Pakistan

While former Pakistan leader Imran Khan continues to rail against the government from behind bars, social media users shared an edited video that appears to show ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif's son-in-law calling for Khan to lead the country again. Muhammad Safdar was in fact criticising Khan's policies in the original 2023 footage.

The two-minute clip surfaced in an X post on January 18, 2025 that has since racked up over 100,000 views.

It appears to show Muhammad Safdar, a retired army officer, saying: "Pakistan is calling you. It is calling Imran Khan. Give direction to the country. A national commission should be formed. These judges and generals should be punished. Punish them then the country will improve."

In another part of the speech he purportedly criticises Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz's brother. He appears to say Shehbaz "made this country into Sri Lanka", an apparent reference to the political and economic crisis in the nearby island nation.

"Captain Safdar on fire," reads the post's lengthy caption, which goes on to repeat Safdar's alleged remarks in the video.

Screenshot of the false post taken February 25, 2025

The video also spread on Facebook as Khan remained in custody since he was ousted by a no-confidence vote in 2022 and charged in around 200 cases that he claims are politically motivated (archived link).

He has launched an unprecedented campaign from behind bars, openly criticising Pakistan's powerful generals who analysts say are the country's kingmakers, though they deny interfering in politics.

Khan's popularity has also continued to undermine the shaky coalition government that kept his PTI party from power in 2024 elections, and sometimes violent protests against his treatment have paralysed the capital Islamabad.

The circulating clip of Safdar, however, has been manipulated.

Edited video

Keyword searches on YouTube found it corresponds to a press conference he held to advocate for local traders on January 27, 2023 (archived link).

The livestream was hosted on Pakistani news channel GNN's YouTube account. During the event, Safdar praises Nawaz Sharif and criticises Khan's government for its economic and political policies.

Safdar is seen wearing similar attire in the GNN video and in the altered video, which has been cropped and mirrored.

Screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (left) and the corresponding press conference from GNN (right)

At the longer video's 10:27-mark, Safdar credits current deputy prime minister and former finance minister Ishaq Dar for stabilising the economy after Khan's ouster (archived link.)

At the 10:41-mark, he says: "Pakistan is calling out to you, it is calling out to the people" (archived link). This section has been dubbed over in the circulating video to say "Pakistan is calling out to Imran Khan" instead.

And at the 10:15-mark, he says Khan turned the country into Sri Lanka -- not Shehbaz Sharif as heard in the video in the false posts (archived link).

AFP has repeatedly debunked misinformation swirling around the jailed former prime minister.

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