Aurat March Lahore did not criticise Maryam Nawaz becoming CM Punjab

Claim: Aurat March Lahore has called PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s appointment as Punjab’s first female chief minister, “an insult to all hard-working Pakistani women, who actually work to earn a position in life”.

Fact: Aurat March Lahore did not tweet such a statement. The tweet that has been falsely attributed to them was actually made by a self-proclaimed parody account on X called, “Aurat March Lahore عورت مارچ لاہور Parody”. 

On 24 February 2024, X (formerly Twitter) user Ishfaq Shah (@ishfaaqshaah) claimed that in keeping with the “popular trend”, Aurat March Lahore has also hurled invalid criticism at the appointment of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) leader, Maryam Nawaz, as the first female chief minister of Punjab.

The user’s remark was a response to a tweet by Aurat March Lahore عورت مارچ لاہور Parody (@DollarMarch), which is as follows:

“Celebrating Maryam Safdar, imposed by the junta, as the first female chief minister of Punjab is an insult to all hard-working Pakistani women, who actually work to earn a position in life.”

Maryam Nawaz Sharif

Following Pakistan’s recent general election, the daughter of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz Sharif was elected as the first female chief minister of Punjab on 26 February 2024.

Spearheading the PML-N as the senior vice president and chief organiser of the party, Maryam  hails from a prominent political dynasty as her father, uncle, Shehbaz Sharif, and cousin, Hamza Shehbaz, all have served as Punjab chief ministers.

Initially not involved in politics, she has emerged as a key figure in the PML-N after her father’s disqualification in 2017. Despite facing legal challenges and a decade-long disqualification from contesting elections, she has risen to prominence, particularly following her father’s return to Pakistan in October 2023 after his self-imposed exile in 2019. 

Fact or Fiction?

Soch Fact Check ascertained that Aurat March Lahore’s original account on X is @AuratMarch and not @DollarMarch. Aurat March Lahore عورت مارچ لاہور Parody (@DollarMarch) is a parody account as declared in the name itself. 

Soch Fact Check also got in touch with an Aurat March Lahore organiser who disassociated the organisation with the @DollarMarch account. According to the organiser, Aurat March Lahore “recently found out about this account” and has not issued a statement clarifying that it’s not their official account as they “ did not feel the need, considering that it’s a parody account”. 

In addition to this, we also sifted through Aurat March’s official account but could not find any tweets referring to or criticising Maryam Nawaz’s recent appointment as Punjab’s Chief Minister.

Virality:

Some other users also believed that the tweet criticising Maryam Nawaz’s appointment as Punjab’s chief minister was posted by Aurat March Lahore’s real account. 

An X user Mazhar (@majjubaba) said that he is shocked to see “the women of Aurat March against her [Maryam Nawaz] w/o [without] any decency and remorse”, and added that he will “stop supporting” Aurat March because of  their bias.

Quoting the viral, parody tweet, X user Rehman (@rehman_posts) called Pakistan’s woke community “despicable”. 

Another user @HumPayala questioned the integrity and character of Aurat March organisers, criticising their inability to “appreciate great Maryam Nawaz”. 

Conclusion: Aurat March Lahore did not criticise Maryam Nawaz’s appointment as Punjab’s first female chief minister. The tweet in question was actually from a parody account on X, @DollarMarch which does not  represent the actual organisation.

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