Current Final

Tag: Fact Check

  • Fact Check: Sharif family ki corruption par independent documentary toh ban rehi hai, lekin it isn’t confirmed if it’s on Netflix/Amazon

    Fact Check: Sharif family ki corruption par independent documentary toh ban rehi hai, lekin it isn’t confirmed if it’s on Netflix/Amazon

    Claim: Several Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) politicians and multiple social media users on Twitter are claiming that an upcoming documentary, about the alleged corruption of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif and his family, will be released on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

    The trailer of the new documentary, titled “Behind Closed Doors” was released on social media on Monday, October 18.

    The trailer was shared across platforms, raking up views.

    The trailer features, amongst others, Imran Khan, the former prime minister, as well as several investigative journalists including Tom Stocks and John-Allan Namu.

    Former Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari tweeted, “Soon on Netflix and Amazon. A must-watch documentary on corruption very relevant as Sharifs also feature in it.”

    PTI’s Finance and Health Minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Taimur Jhagra tweeted, “A film about corruption. Coming soon to Netflix / Amazon Prime. The truth is out there. In Pakistan, sadly it just seems to lead back the same people to corridors of power, again and again.”

    Fact: According to the official website of Behind Closed Doors, the documentary highlights “Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), people who hold a public function and as a result present higher risks of being involved in bribery or corruption.” It also mentions offshore leaks which have revealed that PEPs use the British financial system and offshore jurisdictions to launder, hide and re-invest their wealth into the global financial system.

    “But what happens when a developing country fights back and attempts to get Britain to return the money that it claims has been stolen?” question the documentary makers.

    The film is produced and directed by Michael Oswald and Murtaza Mehdi. The IMDb website states that Oswald is a UK-based director, writer and editor.

    The webpage names all of Netflix’s upcoming releases till January 2023. Behind Closed Doors has not been listed.

    The website of Prime Video by Amazon Studios also does not name the documentary as an upcoming release.

    While several members of the PTI camp have claimed Behind Closed Doors will be featured on Netflix, the streaming service has made no such announcement nor have the makers of the documentary mentioned it on their website or YouTube channel.

    Verdict: FALSE

  • Fact check: Shehbaz Sharif did not meet singer Farhan NTF at PM House

    Fact check: Shehbaz Sharif did not meet singer Farhan NTF at PM House

    Claim: PM Shehbaz Sharif invited singer Farhan NTF to the PM House

    Fact: Shehbaz Sharif met Farhan NTF at his private residence in November 2021, almost 5 months before becoming Prime Minister.

    A video of Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif meeting singer, composer and writer Farhan NTF went viral on Friday in which the singer can be seen sitting with Sharif and singing “Mian De Naray“, which is a political song.

    Political analyst Raheeq Abbasi tweeted the video and wrote: “These days, PM House looks like a circus. If in doubt, watch this video.” His tweet was retweeted more than 12,000 times and had almost three thousand quote-tweets.

    Former federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry quoted Raheeq Abbasi and tweeted: “Pakistan’s dummy prime minister in an important meeting discussing people’s issues in PM House.”

    Anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan also quote-tweeted the same video and wrote that the King can be seeing enjoying himself.

    However, the video is not recent. Farhan tweeted about meeting Shehbaz Sharif on November 3, 2021. At that time, Imran Khan was the prime minister of Pakistan and the video was not shot inside the Prime Minister House.

    In a YouTube video, Farhan explains how hurt he was that his old video went viral and is being misused by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). He clarifies that he met PM Shehbaz last year in November at Sharif’s private residence. He said that it seems that the video is being used as if PM Shehbaz is listening to a political song that was written for him instead of working.

    “I am a singer. I don’t have any political affiliations. I have sung songs for PTI also but my song ‘Mian De Naray’ became very popular. Did Khan not meet Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar and Shaan Shahid when he was prime minister? Why can Shehbaz Sharif not meet any artist? I hope that people do not misuse our videos for their political interests.”

    VERDICT: FALSE

  • Fact check: Was Khan’s Peshawar jalsa visible from space?

    Fact check: Was Khan’s Peshawar jalsa visible from space?

    Claim: Imran Khan’s jalsa in Peshawar was visible from space as shown in a photography taken by NASA

    Fact:

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s Peshawar jalsa was massive. Visuals and videos from the jalsa are doing the rounds on social media. However, PTI leader Ali Muhammad Khan went overboard as he shared a photo from the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), claiming that it was from the party’s rally.

    Ali M Khan shared three pictures on Twitter after the rally, and among them was a picture from NASA, which was a snap captured from the International Space Station.

    Screenshot of Ali Muhamamd Khan’s tweet

    The picture shared by the PTI leader actually shows the lights in the Iberian Peninsula, which falls in Spain and Portugal. This picture was taken by NASA and published on their website in 2014.

    “One of the Expedition 40 crew members aboard the International Space Station recorded this early evening photo of the entire Iberian Peninsula on July 26, 2014,” the NASA post read.

    VERDICT: FALSE

  • Did the establishment fact-check PM Khan?

    Did the establishment fact-check PM Khan?

    In an exclusive interview with ARY News’ senior anchorperson Arshad Sharif on April 1, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan was asked about options given to him by the Opposition to which the premier said that he does not think he should talk to people like Shehbaz Sharif.

    However, PM Khan revealed that he was given three options by the establishment: resignation as PM, no-confidence vote, or early elections.

    In response to PM Khan’s claim, sources in the military establishment said that the military leadership did not bring the Opposition’s options to PM Khan but that the government called the top brass and asked for a meeting to discuss the ongoing political scenario, reported Fakhar Durrani for The News. According to the report, PM Khan rejected the options to resign or vote of n-confidence and agreed to dissolving the assemblies and holding early elections.

    The military sources told The News that after discussion with the PM, both the army chief and DG ISI met the Opposition leadership on the same day and conveyed the government’s message. The Opposition did not agree to any of the three options and rejected them.

  • Fact Check: PM Khan misquoted Ronald Reagan at the 76th UNGA?

    Fact Check: PM Khan misquoted Ronald Reagan at the 76th UNGA?

    Claim: Imran Khan misquoted President Ronald Reagan’s statement at the UN General Assembly session

    Fact: Imran Khan misquoted President Ronald Reagan’s statement at the UN General Assembly session

    Prime Minister Imran Khan misquoted United States President Ronald Reagan’s statement, while delivering his address to the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 25, 2021,

    PM Khan claimed that in the 1980s, former US President Ronald Reagan compared the Afghan mujahideen fighting against Soviet forces to the Founding Fathers of the United States.

    Focal person to Chief Minister Punjab, Azhar Mashwani, took to Twitter and shared the video clip where the former president can be heard comparing Afghan Mujahideen as “moral equals of founding fathers of USA”.

    https://twitter.com/MashwaniAzhar/status/1441534425758502912

    If you watch the video attentively, you will find a minor glitch. The video is 0:48 seconds long.

    At 0:37-0:45 seconds, Reagan says: “They are our brothers, these freedom fighters, who we owe them our help. You know the truth about them, you know who they are fighting and why.”

    However, from 0:45 seconds to 0:48 seconds, there is a slight change in the sound of the president. The pitch of the sound is a bit higher as compared to the entire video. The words spoken by the president during these seconds are, “They are the moral equal of our founding fathers.”

    Actual quote of the former US President, “In making mention of freedom fighters, all of us are privileged to have in our midst tonight one of the brave commanders who lead the Afghan freedom fighters—Abdul Haq. Abdul Haq, we are with you.”

    “They are our brothers, these freedom fighters, and we owe them our help. I’ve spoken recently of the freedom fighters of Nicaragua. You know the truth about them. You know who they’re fighting and why. They are the moral equal of our Founding Fathers and the brave men and women of the French Resistance,” said Reagan.

    The anecdote that PM Khan shared about Ronald Reagan comparing the mujahideen to the Founding Fathers is a commonly made mistake and there is actually no truth to it. Reagan had actually compared Nicaraguan rebel fighters to the Founding Fathers, a comment which has since been wrongly connected to the mujahideen.

    However, this is not the first time that the premier made this mistake. In 2019, PM Khan while speaking at an event at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) think tank in New York on Monday, September 23, claimed that in the 1980’s former Ronald Reagan compared the Afghan Mujahideen fighting against Soviet forces to the Founding Fathers of the United States.

    Journalist Gharidah Farooqi raised this issue initially. She took to Twitter and said, “What an international embarrassment that too at the #UNGA forum this time. US Pres RonaldRegan NEVER compared ‘mujahideen’ to Founding Fathers. It’s a FAKE NEWS. PM Khan refers to a fake “news item” to launch a case at such a prestigious forum! Who wrote speech for PM Khan? Fire him.”

    VERDICT: TRUE

  • Fact Check: Lahore’s Butt Karahi was NOT sealed for serving dead animals

    Claim: Butt Karahi Lahore was sealed for serving dead animal meat

    Fact: Butt Karahi Lahore was sealed for violating Covid-19 protocols

    On Sep 13, 2021 several Twitter users came out in protest against Lahore’s famous Butt Karahi, tweeting and condemning them for serving dead animal meat. Some of these posts can be found here, here, here and here.

    However, Lahore’s Deputy Commissioner, Umer Sher Chattha, took to Twitter to clarify that the eatery was sealed for violating Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

    Chattha wrote in a tweet, “Clarification AC city sealed it due to Covid SOP violation, not because of serving dead animal.” Butt Karahi fans were quite relieved to see this clarification.

    VERDICT: FALSE

  • Did a Saudi billionaire really marry her Pakistani driver?

    Did a Saudi billionaire really marry her Pakistani driver?

    Social media is abuzz with the ‘news’ of a marriage between an alleged Saudi billionaire, Sahoo bint Abdullah Al-Mahboob, and her driver who hails from Pakistan.

    The video of the wedding wherein the couple could be seen exchanging rings has garnered thousands of views on social media. Some news websites also featured the story, without checking the veracity of the claims, using this video that’s undated.

    https://twitter.com/hassanjutt25/status/1344921036169633796

    However, a quick Google search shows that Sahoo bint Abdullah Al-Mahboob, who apparently owns hotels in Mecca and Madina as per the rumours, is not a real person. The viral post also claimed that her net worth was $8bn and that she also owned properties in France and other countries.

    Her name doesn’t show up anywhere except the news sites and the Youtube videos that were circulating the news of the marriage. Also, there were no reports of the wedding in the Saudi press about a purported marriage between a driver and a billionaire.

  • Fact Check: ‘Ertuğrul actor says Yasir Hussain is insecure’

    Claim: Turkish actor Hande Subasi called Yasir Hussain “insecure” in a tweet.

    Fact: A fake account made in the name of Hande Subasi made a tweet about Yasir Hussain, calling him insecure.

    With Turkish series’ unparalleled success in Pakistan, Yasir Hussain’s comments about Turkish actors have often landed him in hot water.

    Recently, netizens criticized him for calling Turkish actors ‘kachra’ [garbage]. Later, in an Instagram story, Hussain denied making these comments, saying that the publications twisted his words.

    However, a tweet purportedly by Turkish actor Hande Subasi, who played Aykiz in Diriliş: Ertuğrul, responding to Hussain’s comments has gone viral.

    “This vile & insecure man #YasirHussain does not represent a proud Pakistani nation. We thank our Pakistani audience for their love and support. Sometimes people do things for attention, he is one of them & we should all ignore him,” the tweet read.

    https://twitter.com/Hande4hayran/status/1302943307979464704?s=20

    With the tweet still doing rounds over social media, The Current went the extra mile to verify it.

    According to our research, the account made in the actor’s name is fake. The account is not verified and only has 387 followers.

    Moreover, the actor has a verified account on Twitter with almost 20,000 followers.

    VERDICT: FALSE

  • Fact Check: Does Sana Hashwani of ‘Sana Safinaz’ have COVID-19?

    Fact Check: Does Sana Hashwani of ‘Sana Safinaz’ have COVID-19?

    Claim: Sana Hashwani of the clothing brand Sana Safinaz has COVID-19

    Fact: Sana Safinaz verified through a public announcement on their Instagram that she did not contract the virus

    While dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is stressful enough, the misinformation and fake information that comes along with it is even more nerve-wrecking.

    Late last week, rumours were doing the rounds that Sana Hashwani, who is the co-owner of the fashion brand Sana Safinaz has been tested positive for the coronavirus. It was also being said that her daughter also has it and that the two attended a party despite knowing.

    Below is a screenshot of a message that was being circulated on social media.

    screenshot in social media circulation

    Following this, the brand posted an official announcement clarifying that the designer did not have the novel coronavirus and urged people not to spread misinformation. Sana’s medical reports were also shared as further proof.

    “Sana returned from the UK and took a test as a precaution so as to not endanger family members with compromised immunity,” the statement read. “She has tested negative but nonetheless placed herself under self-isolation as any sensible person returning from abroad should do at this time.”

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-C9G4IgJXL/?utm_source=ig_embed

    The brand also urged the public to be more careful while sharing information and passing on “unverified slander and gossip.”

    VERDICT: FALSE