Claim: PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal was hit by a shoe at a public rally as he began his campaign for the upcoming elections.
Fact: The video is from March 2021, outside the National Assembly. There are no recent, credible news reports about Iqbal being attacked while campaigning.
On 14 January 2024, vlogger Sabee Kazmi shared a 3-second clip (archived) showing a shoe thrown at PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal during a rally. The tweet was captioned,
نکلے وقت ہیلمٹ ضرور ساتھ رکھے۔۔۔۔۔
لیکن عوام کو یہ نہیں کرنا چاہیے۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔مہنگای ہے،جوتے کونسے سستے ہیں۔
[Be sure to keep the helmet with you when you go out. But the people should not do this… there is inflation and it’s not like shoes are cheap.]
On the same day, the claim and the video were shared by a fan page of journalist Kashif Abbasi. It was captioned:
احسن اقبال کی کمپین آغاز پر جوتا افزائی کی ویڈیو وائرل ۔۔۔!!!
[Translation: Viral video of Ahsan Iqbal’s campaign as it begins with a shoe applause…!!!]
Both these tweets imply that Iqbal was recently attacked with a shoe and he began his campaign.
Fact or Fiction?
Through reverse image search of key-frames from the clip, we found that the same video was shared in 2021. The same 3-second clip can be seen here, in a video published by Dawn News on their YouTube channel in March 2021, titled “Ahsan Video of Shoe hurled on Ahsan Iqbal in Islamabad | Ahsan Iqbal shoe video | Dawn News”.
The same clip was also published here on Express News’ official YouTube channel on 6 March 2021. It was titled, “Shoe Hurled At PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal | 6 March 2021 | Express News | ID1F” and was published by Express News’ YouTube channel on 6 March 2021. At the time stamp 00:53, the 3-second clip in the claim is replayed in slow motion.
We also found a news article on Geo News, headlined, “PTI supporters, PML-N leaders come to blows; shoe thrown at Ahsan Iqbal”. Daily Pakistan and BOL News also reported on the March 2021 incident when a shoe was thrown at Ahsan Iqbal. BOL News spoke to Ahsan Iqbal on TV, where he said that PML-N leaders were conducting a press conference in the Red Zone, in front of the Parliament and the Parliament lodges when suddenly 400 to 500 PTI supporters gathered around them and started attacking them.
The articles clearly state that PTI supporters encircled the PML-N leader, shouted slogans in an attempt to suppress their voices and then eventually one person from the crowd threw a shoe at Ahsan Iqbal. This took place outside the National Assembly in Islamabad in 2021.
Some of these articles also mentioned that a man had hurled a shoe at Ahsan Iqbal at a rally at Narowal in 2018 as well.
Virality
The posts sharing the claim on X here, here, and here, were viewed more than 152,000 times.
On Facebook, we found that the claim was shared here, here, and here.
Conclusion: Ahsan Iqbal was not hit with a shoe recently. An old video from March 2021 was recycled to imply that Iqbal was attacked with a shoe in public.
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