Claim: An image shows lawmaker and former PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat shaking hands with PML-N Supremo Nawaz Sharif.
Fact: The picture is edited and actually shows PML-N’s Netherlands-based member Pervaiz Ali Sandhila.
On 26 May 2026, Facebook user ‘Itz Ishrat Abbasi’ posted a photo showing lawmaker Sher Afzal Marwat, formerly part of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), meeting Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Supremo Nawaz Sharif.
The image was accompanied by the following caption:
“میاں صاحب سے معافی مانگنے والوں کی قطار روز بروز لمبی ھوتی جا رھی ایک دن ایسا آئیگا کہ پی ٹی آئی کا آخری کارکن بھی پیر پکڑ کر معافی مانگے گا میاں نواز شریف برصغیر کے سب سے سینئر تجربہ کار اور مدبر سیاست دان ہیں ماضی میں سیاسی مخالفین نے ان کے ساتھ جو کچھ بھی کیا وہ ہرگز اس کے مستحق نہیں تھے ہمیں اپنے محسنوں اور ملک کے لیے خدمات انجام دینے والوں کی قدر کرنا سیکھنا ہوگی شیر افضل مروت کی جاتی امراء میں نواز شریف سے ملاقات کے بعد میڈیا سے گفتگو
[The queue of those apologising to Mian Sahab is getting longer day by day. One day, even the last PTI worker will touch his feet and apologise. Mian Nawaz Sharif is the most senior, experienced, and sagacious politician of the Subcontinent. He did not deserve whatever his political opponents did to him in the past. We have to learn to appreciate our benefactors and those who served the country. Sher Afzal Marwat talks to the media after meeting Nawaz Sharif in Jati Umra.]”
Screenshot of the viral post
Jati Umra is the Sharif family’s estate located in Raiwind near Lahore.
The PTI expelled Marwat in February 2025 less than a year after he was suspended from the party. In a social media post, he said the decision “seems influenced by individuals who have never accepted me within the party” but that the incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan “is, and will always remain, my leader”.
A few months later, he severely criticised the PTI.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched the image but did not find any reputable sources to confirm if it was authentic. Moreover, there are no credible news reports supporting the claim.
We did, however, come across a post (archive) on X (formerly Twitter) by Pervaiz Ali Sandhila, a Netherlands-based member of the PML-N who shared a visual claiming the original picture shows him meeting Sharif and not Marwat.
“The truth about the AI image that went viral in the name of Sher Afzal Marwat is that the original image is from my previous Pakistan tour, which was taken [to show] feelings of love and respect for the esteemed leader Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif,” he wrote.
Upon searching Sandhila’s Facebook profile, we found the same picture showing him and Sharif shaking hands posted (archive) on 25 April 2026 — before the one featuring Marwat went viral.
A visual comparison of the viral image (left) and the original one posted by PML-N’s Netherlands-based member Pervaiz Ali Sandhila
Taking cues from this, we ran the image in a tool designed by OpenAI to check if it was created using the American artificial intelligence company’s tools.
It confirmed that the picture was “generated with OpenAl tools”, saying it “found a SynthID watermark that originated from OpenAl”.
Screenshot of OpenAI’s verification tool confirming that the viral image was created or edited using the company’s products
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes that the viral photo has been manipulated using AI tools to swap Sandhila’s face with that of Marwat.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found that the image was shared on multiple social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
The photo was posted on Facebook over a dozen times and garnered more than 19,400 reactions.
It gained upwards of 203,000 views on X and was played over 50,000 times on TikTok.
Conclusion: The picture is edited and actually shows PML-N’s Netherlands-based member Pervaiz Ali Sandhila.
Background image in cover photo: Rayaan.Khan.Marwat
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com