An edited video of Ali Amin Gandapur — A politician from the party of former Pakistani leader Imran Khan has surfaced online with the false claim that he was apologizing for the violent protests that swept the country following Khan’s arrest in May 2023. In the original video, he essentially says he would apologize if there was evidence of his involvement in the unrest.
“It is my mistake and it was a mistake. I went to the Corps Commander House in Peshawar and apologized,” said an Urdu-speaking after on X, formerly Twitter, which shared the video on August 11.
“Imran Khan has also made mistakes. He should admit his mistakes and apologize.”
The report showed a video of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Ali Amin Gandapur speaking to reporters outside Adiala Jail south of the capital Islamabad.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister and former cricket star Imran Khan has been in prison since August 2023, when he was convicted of corruption.
His arrest on May 9 of that year led to a wave of protests. violent protests across Pakistan, where unprecedented anger has emerged against the military, which criticized Khan after he was ousted in 2022 (archived link).
Protesters stormed the corps commander’s residence in Lahore and besieged a gate of the army headquarters in Rawalpindi. In Peshawar, a mob destroyed the Chaghi Monument — a mountain-shaped sculpture marking the site of Pakistan’s first nuclear test (archived link).
Khan was again charged with inciting riots, while Gandapur was accused of involvement and later released on bail (archived link) .
The video shared online appears to show Gandapur apologising and repeatedly saying, “Yes, it was my mistake”.
The video circulated in similar posts on X here And here and further Facebook after Khan said he would to apologize for the protests as evidence that members of his PTI party were involved (archived link).
He had previously rejected calls from the military for an apology and accused it of staging the violence.
Some social media users appeared to believe it was an image of Gandapur apologising for the unrest.
“Luckily he apologized,” said one X user.
“Now they will gradually confess everything,” wrote another.
However, the video is misleadingly edited.
No excuses
A reverse image search for keywords yielded the following results: original video posted on the local news source’s verified YouTube channel City 41 television on August 3, 2024 (archived link).
“Imran Khan ready to apologize for May 9? | Ali Ameen Gandapur Big Statement | City 41,” the video is titled (archived link).
Below is a screenshot of a comparison between a video shared on social media (left) and the City 41 video (right):
Gandapur did not apologize for the protests and did not mention Imran Khan in the video.
From the 3:10 Based on the footage, he said he was willing to apologize, but that his “mistake” had to be proven first.
“I said on May 9 and before that there was a demand for an apology,” he said in Urdu.
“Okay, I’m willing to apologize, but first prove my mistake. But if it’s not my mistake and if it’s someone else’s mistake, who will apologize to me?”
Local news channel Express News published a longer version of Gandapur’s speech, which also did not show him apologizing for the May 9 protests or calling on Khan to do so (archived link).
Also Pakistani Geo TV factually checked this statement (archived link).
