Anwar Maqsood was not kidnapped

Claim: Artist and writer Anwar Maqsood was abducted and subjected to torture. He has also been banned from appearing on TV channels and from attending military programs. 

Fact: Maqsood has denied the claim, even reaching out to Geo News’ Mazhar Abbas to clarify that he was never kidnapped or tortured. Geo News also confirmed that Maqsood has not been banned from appearing on their TV channels. 

On 10 and 11 March 2024, a 1-minute 8-second video clip of journalist Sami Ibrahim was shared online, with the following caption:

انور مقصود کو اغوا کیا گیا مارا پیٹا گیا ان پر تشدد کیا گیا اور بتایا آپ جو کہہ رہے ہیں وہ سب سننے کی ہمیں عادت نہیں تمام چینلز پر انکو بین کردیا گیا ہے، 

سمیع ابراہیم

[Translation: Anwar Maqsood was kidnapped, beaten up and tortured and he was told that we are not used to hearing whatever he has been saying. He has been banned from all channels. Sami Ibrahim]

A translated transcription of what Sami Ibrahim is saying in this video is provided below:

What is anyone’s status? I am talking about Anwar Maqsood sahab, the living legend of Pakistan. He is respectable and a big influencer who always speaks for the truth and for what is right. Like I said before, he is a living legend in the world of literature. There is information that says that he was abducted and beaten up, and he was told that we are not used to hearing whatever he has been saying. And there is information claiming that he has been banned from appearing on TV channels. It is also being said that he has been banned from the programs he used to host, like our national days or the day of independence, and especially military programs. He has been banned from attending those. I will discuss this in more detail later.

Fact or Fiction?

On 10 March 2024, Anwar Maqsood’s son and renowned musician uploaded a video on Instagram, showing his father cooking biryani and saying, “If I was injured, bones were broken, then how would I be cooking this biryani? I am making this biryani myself right now. If that was the case, someone else would have been cooking it for me.”

Dawn News and Geo News also corroborated that Maqsood was not kidnapped. According to Dawn, the writer said to a local journalist that people have been calling him and telling him about this allegation and that he not only rejects these allegations but also condemns all those who are spreading this misinformation without any verification.  

In a post on X on 12 March 2024, renowned journalist and political analyst Mazhar Abbas also shared that the writer called him to clarify that this is fake news and asked everyone to stop spreading this misinformation. 

To verify the other half of the claim, Soch Fact Check reached out to Geo News management to clarify whether Maqsood has been banned from appearing on their TV channel or if they have received any such directive. “No, he has not been banned. The news is completely false,” they said. 

Virality

On X, this claim was shared here, here, here, here, here, and here, receiving more than 168,723 views and more than 28,850 interactions.

On Facebook, we found the claim was shared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. 

Conclusion: Anwar Maqsood denies that he was recently tortured and kidnapped. 

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Background image in cover photo: ABC News 

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