Claim: A poster alluding to Field Marshal Asim Munir’s possible retirement or extension has been displayed in multiple cities across Pakistan.
Fact: The image is digitally altered. The Field Marshal’s picture was likely superimposed on a 2016 poster that originally featured the army chief at the time, General Raheel Sharif.
An image shared on Facebook shows a poster with the image of the Field Marshal along with the following text: “خدا کیلئے !
جانے کی کی باتیں
جانے دو۔۔۔
MOVE ON PAKISTAN”
[Translation: For God’s sake! Conversations about leaving, let it go.]
The same image was shared on Instagram with the caption: “پنڈی والے چھا گئے 😂😂”
[Translation: The people of Pindi nailed it 😂😂]
However, this image contained the following text:
خدا کے لیے
جان چھوڑ اور دفع ہو جا
[Translation: For God’s sake, leave us alone and get lost.]
X user @Umar_AliX questioned the authenticity of the images. The user shared two images featuring the posters in different locations, writing, “کیا واقعی یہ فلیکس راولپنڈی مری روڈ پر آویزاں ہے؟ راولپنڈی کے دوستوں سے راہنمائی درکار ہے۔ ایک دوست نے یہ تصویر پنڈی سے بھیجی تھی جس پر یقین نہ آیا اب اس نے رات کو دوبارہ بھیج دی ہے ۔”
[Translation: Are these panaflex really hanging on Rawalpindi Murree Road? Need guidance from friends in Rawalpindi. A friend sent this picture from Pindi, which I didn’t believe, and now he has sent it again at night.]
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check initially reverse-searched the viral image and found images of identical posters featuring former COAS retired General Raheel Sharif. According to Dawn, “banners requesting COAS Sharif not to retire on the expiry of his tenure in November 2016 cropped up in the capital, though the army chief announced that he was not interested in getting an extension.” The report added that “the chief organiser of the campaign, Ali Hashmi, claimed that as many as 5,000 banners had been displayed in different cities of Punjab and Islamabad.”
The campaign was initiated by a largely-unknown political party “Move on Pakistan”, launched in 2013 with Mohammad Kamran, a businessman from Faisalabad, as its chairman. The military distanced itself from the campaign.
The version in the claim, showing Field Marshal Munir, follows the same design and layout. This indicated that the 2016 poster was digitally altered to include the Field Marshal’s image; it was likely superimposed.
Furthermore, the banner in the viral images contains several other discrepancies, such as warped text and logos, which indicates that the original 2016 posters were likely manipulated using AI. Other discrepancies characteristic of AI are listed as follows:
- Both images show a round logo on the poster. The logo on the original poster of Raheel Sharif contains an outline of Pakistan’s map and appears to have legible words. However, in the viral image the map outline appears distorted while the text seems to be warped.
- While the poster in the original image contains Urdu text under the logo, it is missing in the poster in the viral image.
- The former poster clearly states “Education” “Health” and “Peace” whereas the poster in the claim does not appear to have legible words on it. Instead, the words appear to be gibberish.
AI-generated images typically contain distorted or incorrect words and logos because AI models are trained on millions of images but don’t actually understand letters or words as distinct objects. They learn that text-like shapes often appear in certain places, such as on signs or posters, and try to mimic those patterns. As a result, the text they generate usually looks real at first glance but appears distorted or incorrect when examined closely.
Soch Fact Check analysed the image using Undetectable.ai, which assesses image features such as colour patterns, textures, and shapes to determine its authenticity. It rated the image’s probability of being 1% real, cautioning that it is likely created by AI.
Undetectable AI results
Two other image tampering tools, FotoForensics and Forensically, did not provide conclusive results.
A keyword search using the terms “posters,” “banners,” and “Field Marshal Asim Munir” did not yield any reports from credible news outlets. Similarly, we found no additional images online beyond the two circulating currently. If such posters were actually displayed across any major city, real images of it would’ve been shared online. Alternatively, they would at least be reported in the news as in the case of former General Sharif’s posters.
Given the visual inconsistencies and the strong resemblance between the viral poster and the 2016 version, we conclude that the image circulating online is digitally altered; Field Marshal Asim Munir’s picture was likely superimposed onto the older poster.
Virality
The claim was shared here (archive) and here (archive) on Facebook.
On Instagram, it was shared here (archive).
On X, it was shared here and here. Archived here and here.
Conclusion: The posters in the viral image are digitally altered; Field Marshal Munir’s image was likely superimposed onto a 2016 banner which originally featured retired Genera Raheel Sharif.
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Background image in cover photo: Associated Press
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com