Claim: A video shows senior journalist Sohail Warraich criticising Field Marshal Asim Munir. Another similar video shows the journalist passing derogatory remarks about the Field Marshal.
Fact: Fake audios has been overlaid on Warraich’s video from 2021 to create the viral videos circulating online.
A video of journalist Sohail Warraich alongside an image of PTI’s founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan was shared on Facebook. It contains the following Urdu text: “جب میں نے فیلڈ مارشل سے نو مئی کے ثبوت مانگے تو انہوں نے ایسے منہ بنایا جیسے کسی فقیر سے ادھار مانگ لیا ہو۔ سہیل وڑائچ”
[Translation: When I asked the Field Marshal for evidence of 9 May, he made a face as if I had asked a beggar for a loan. – Sohail Warraich]
Another video shared online contained the following text:
“سہیل وڑائچ۔۔۔کا وڑائچ طیارے پر بیٹھ کر نیا اعلان
اور FM سے بدلہ۔۔”
[Translation: Sohail Waraich’s new announcement sitting on the Warraich plane.
And revenge from FM.]
In the video, Warraich says, “Mujhe Field Marshal ne bataya ke fauj mein itna discipline hai ke agar kisi gaddhay ko bhi army chief bana diya jaye tou fauj ussay salute karti hai. Mein ne pehlay yeh baat nahi ki lekin ab majboor ho kar kar raha hoon.”
[Translation: The Field Marshal told me that there is so much discipline in the army that even if a donkey were made the army chief, the army would salute him. I didn’t say this before, but now I’m compelled to say it.]
Sohail Warraich’s column about the Field Marshal
On 16 August, Sohail Warraich published a column on his first meeting with Field Marshal Asim Munir. The column contained details of a discussion held in Brussels, Belgium. Warraich wrote that: “سیاسی حوالے سے کئے گئے سوال پر انہوں نے کہاکہ سیاسی مصالحت سچے دل سے معافی مانگنے سے ممکن ہے”
[Translation: When asked about politics, he [COAS] said that political reconciliation is possible only if there is a sincere apology.] This statement was widely interpreted as a hint towards PTI and Imran Khan, sparking reactions from the public and politicians.
However, on 21 August, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry clarified that Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir did not give any interview to any journalist. He explained that the article was based on an event held in Brussels, where hundreds of people took photographs with the COAS. “The army chief made no comment regarding Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, nor did he speak about any apology,” Lt Gen Chaudhry said while addressing the media, reported The Friday Times.
The following day, Sohail Warraich issued a statement on X stating that while he had respect for DG ISPR Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry, the points he refuted were never mentioned in his column. “Perhaps he spoke based on a misunderstanding,” the post said.
Warraich added that he was ready to offer further clarification. The senior journalist added that the DG ISPR had correctly said the army chief had given no interview. He responded: “Read my entire column again; the word ‘interview’ was not used anywhere. The title of my column itself is ‘First Meeting,’ nothing more, nothing less. I never wrote that it was a one-on-one meeting.”
The claim being fact-checked appears to have circulated in this context.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes from the viral video and found a video shared as early as 2 February 2021 on Facebook. In this video, Sohail Warraich is in the same attire as in the viral clip. His surroundings in the two videos are also identical. The caption of the post reads: “Message from Mr Sohail Warraich on COVID-19: ‘We should take care of ourselves and others in this pandemic particularly of those who need support, can’t afford or are poor. We can help them in case if someone get (sic) affected with this virus, don’t leave people alone in depression and also morally support them.’
In the video, he says: “We, Pakistanis, are very fortunate that we did not face such a severe wave of Covid-19 as in India, Europe, and the US. But this does not mean that Covid-19 is gone. Covid-19 can return. We need to be careful and take special care of those who are helpless, those who cannot afford treatment, and those who are poor. We should help them and not leave them isolated. Instead, we must encourage and support them. By taking care of ourselves, following SOPs, and supporting each other, we can fight this disease together. Stay safe, stay healthy.”
The video dates back to 2021, when the current COAS was not in office. Therefore, it is unlikely for him to have commented on the Field Marshal in this video at all. This footage was likely manipulated to create the versions circulating online.
Soch Fact Check analysed the audios of both videos in the claim using Resemble Detect, a tool designed for real-time detection of deepfake audio across various media types, which rated both audios as “Fake.” The results can be viewed here and here.
Shaur Azher, an audio engineer at Soch Videos, our sister company, reviewed both the viral videos being fact-checked. He compared them with the original Facebook video from 2021 and noted that the latter’s audio contained many elements which suggested that it was authentic:
- Room Tone: Present, with natural ambient noise including faint traffic in the background.
- Dialogue Delivery: Human-like with organic variations in pitch and dynamics.
- Room Reverb: Noticeable reflections consistent with a real recording space.
- Frequency Spectrum: Consistent energy from 20 Hz to 3000 Hz, with a natural high-frequency roll-off around 15 kHz.
In contrast, the viral videos contained several differences:
- Monotone Delivery: Lacks natural inflection, suggesting synthetic speech.
- No Room Tone or Reverb: Indicates it was not captured in a physical environment.
- Artificial Leveling: RMS and peak levels appear uniformly processed.
- Frequency Spectrum: Excessive energy between 20 Hz to 500 Hz, with low-pass cutoff around 13 kHz (unlike the original’s 15 kHz).
Based on these differences in tone, frequency profile, ambient characteristics, and delivery style, Azher concluded that the audios of both videos being fact-checked seem to be AI-generated. They have most likely been created using text-to-speech or voice cloning technology, he added.
Virality
The first video was shared here, here, here, and here on Facebook. Archived here, here, here, and here.
On X, it was shared here, here, here, here, and here. Archived here, here, here, here, here.
The second video was shared here (archive) on Facebook.
Conclusion: Fake audios were overlaid onto Sohail Warraich’s 2021 video to create the viral videos.
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Background image in cover photo: Dawn
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com