Supporters of Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan tried to take over the streets of the capital Islamabad in October 2024. However, a video of a massive demonstration circulating on social media does not show the recent protest. The video, which has been viewed tens of thousands of times, was actually filmed in the country’s largest city, Karachi, and was previously shared online following Khan’s ouster in April 2022.
‘D-Chowk Islamabad’, read the caption in Urdu next to the video posted on Facebook on October 4, 2024.
“D-Chowk” refers to an exchange office in Islamabad, located near important buildings including the Parliament Building, the Presidential Palace and the Supreme Court (archived link).
The video – viewed more than 100,00 times – shows a large crowd gathering on a wide road overnight.
The video was also shared alongside a similar false claim on YouTube here And here.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has defied a crackdown to target the government with regular demonstrations since the former leader was jailed on various charges in 2023.
He insists the charges against him, some of which are still pending in court, were intended to prevent him from returning to office.
Early October PTI activists started driving towards Islamabad from Khan’s power base in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but were met with shipping container roadblocks and volleys of tear gas.archived link).
Small and dispersed convoys entered Islamabad in defiance of the government, which approved troops for deployment on the streets.
However, the circulating video was shot in Karachi and does not show the recent demonstration.
Protest against expulsion
A reverse image search of the video’s keyframes found the same images posted at Facebook on April 11, 2022, when Khan’s supporters protested his ouster through a vote of no confidence in parliament (archived link).
“Karachi’s decision, Prime Minister Imran Khan and a self-reliant Pakistan,” the post’s caption read.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the fake post (left) and the April 2022 Facebook video (right):
PTI’s verified account on X also shared something similar clamp of the meeting on April 11, 2022 with the caption: “Karachi rocked. Dear Chairman #ImranKhan, thank you for making us a nation! What we are seeing today in Pakistan is a phenomenon we will never forget!” (archived link).
PTI made the announcement at the time protest sites included the Millennium Mall in Karachi (archived link).
AFP confirmed the location of the video by comparing it to street images on Google Maps of buildings across the street Millennium shopping center (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the fake message (left) and the corresponding Google Maps street view (right), with the similarities highlighted:
AFP has repeatedly debunked wrong information about Khan.
