Claim: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was hospitalised for haemorrhoids ahead of a major escalation with India and fears of an all-out war, according to a leaked confidential letter from his office. Another notice from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting shows that channels and media outlets were warned against publicising any information related to Sharif’s medical condition, the army chief’s location or military resignations; offenders would be dealt with strictly under the national security act. Moreover, Dawn published a news report titled, “Piles Diagnosis Sparks PM Health Speculation: Information Blackout Raises Concerns.”
Fact: All of the claims are false. The letter from the PM’s Office is forged and contains factual errors, the signature on the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting notification is of actor Chris Hemsworth, and Dawn did not publish the article in question. In fact, an official who works for the publication also confirmed the same. Sharif also attended two public events on the day the alleged confidential letter was issued, thereby refuting claims of his hospitalisation.
On 29 April 2025, Facebook page ‘Indian Defence News’ posted (archive) what appears to be a “confidential” letter about Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, issued by the PM’s Office and dated 27 April.
The supposed letter, signed by the premier’s principal secretary, Asad Rehman Gilani, details how Sharif was “was admitted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Rawalpindi on April 27, 2025, for medical evaluation and treatment related to a case of haemorrhoid’s”. It further states that he was “under the expert care of a specialised medical team at CMH” and “his health condition is stable”.
“All concerned offices are advised to maintain strict confidentiality of this information. No disclosure to media or public forums is permitted unless officially authorized by the Prime Minister’s Office Media Wing or the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting,” the letter warns, adding that it “is intended strictly for internal coordination among relevant departments”.
‘Indian Defence News’ captioned the letter as follows:
“🚨BREAKING: Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif hospitalized to cure his Haemorrhoids(Bavashir). 😂 Now Terrorist Asim Munir can run the banana republic of Pakistan without any political interference.”
Gen Syed Asim Munir is the Pakistan Army chief. He was promoted to the Field Marshal rank on 20 May 2025 and will retain both positions.\
According to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), haemorrhoids or piles “are lumps inside and around your bottom (anus)”, as well as “swollen blood vessels”.
In addition to the aforementioned letter, Soch Fact Check also came across an X (formerly Twitter) post containing a news clipping published on 30 April 2025 in Dawn — titled “Piles Diagnosis Sparks PM Health Speculation: Information Blackout Raises Concerns” — and a notification, allegedly issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on 29 April 2025.
Addressed to “media channels and individuals” and signed by an “Attaullah Khan”, the Information Ministry notification talks about a “prohibition on reporting sensitive information on the subject”. Its full content is as follows:
“تمام نشریاتی اداروں یا چینلز اور افراد کو سختی سے ہدایت کی جاتی ہے کہ وہ وزیر اعظم شہباز شریف کی طبی حالت چیف آف آرمی سٹاف جنرل سید عاصم منیر کے مقام یا فوجی استعفوں سے متعلق کوئی بھی معلومات رپورٹ شائع یا نشر نہ کریں۔ کریں۔ اس ہدایت کی تعمیل لازمی ہے۔ کسی بھی خلاف ورزی پر قومی سلامتی ایکٹ کے تحت سخت کارروائی کی جائے گی۔
[All broadcasting organizations or channels and individuals are strictly directed not to publish or broadcast any information or report related to the medical condition of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the location of Chief of the Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir or military resignations. It is mandatory to comply with this directive. Strict action will be taken under the National Security Act for any violation.]”
The Dawn report reads as follows:
“Amidst official silence, reports have emerged suggesting the Prime Minister is receiving medical treatment for piles. The secrecy surrounding this has drawn public attention and raised questions about the government’s handling of the PM’s health information. While the nature of the ailment might be considered private, the lack of any official statement is fueling rumors and calls for greater transparency.”
Pakistan-India conflict
In one of the most intense military escalations in decades, Pakistan and India exchanged drones, fire, shelling, and missiles for four days in May 2025, resulting in casualties on both sides. The conflict raised fears of a nuclear war between the two neighbouring countries that have fought three wars over the disputed Kashmir region.
India launched Operation Sindoor on 7 May 2025, targeting at least six locations inside Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. These attacks killed at least 31 people — including three children — and wounded 57 others, according to Pakistani authorities.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirmed that the Pakistan Army “intercepted and destroyed 77 Israeli-made Harop drones” from India, a number also cited by state media outlet, the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV). As of now, Soch Fact Check has not been able to independently verify the exact number of Indian drones that entered Pakistan or how many were shot down.
However, debris from multiple drones was found in a number of locations; Soch Fact Check visited and investigated the attacks at two crash sites each in Karachi, Rawalpindi, and Lahore. Read our on-ground reporting here.
In response, the Pakistan Army announced a counterattack — named “Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos”, which is an Arabic phrase that translates to “steel wall” — against India in the wee hours of 10 May 2025.
The military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said Pakistan hit “26x military targets as well as facilities that were used to target Pakistani citizens and those enterprises that were responsible for fomenting terrorism in Pakistan”. These locations included those in “Suratgarh, Sirsa, Bhuj, Naliya, Adampur, Bhatinda, Barnala, Halwara, Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Udhampur, Mamun, Ambala, and Pathankot”, it said. “[The] BrahMos storage facilities at Beas and Nagrota were also destroyed.”
India’s Defence Ministry alleged that Pakistan “launched 300-400 drones across 36 Indian locations”.
In a 13 May statement, the Pakistan Army announced a total death toll of 51, including “40 civilians and 11 military service members”, and that close to 200 people, including 121 civilians, were wounded.
On the other hand, India announced on 11 May that 21 civilians and five soldiers had died.
On 10 May, both nations announced a ceasefire agreement, which Pakistan says was brokered by US President Trump. New Delhi maintains that the ceasefire was worked out “directly” by both sides.
Fact or Fiction?
‘Confidential’ letter
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched the image and used relevant keywords to see if such a development was reported by any reputable news outlets but only found Indian social media posts that had rehashed it without any evidence.
We then analysed the letter and observed that it was attributed to PM’s Principal Secretary Asad Rehman Gilani. However, he does not serve in that position right now; he was removed in March 2025 and transferred to the National Heritage and Culture Division as its secretary, according to a 17 March 2025 notification issued by Establishment Division notification.
Moreover, the letter incorrectly spells the medical condition as “haemorrhoid’s” as there should be no apostrophe.
In addition, on 27 April, the day the letter was apparently issued, PM Sharif was participating in his usual duties, including meeting a delegation from the cryptocurrency company World Liberty Financial (WLF), according to a press release issued by the PM’s Office, this photo published by the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), and PTV’s reports.
On the days prior to and after 27 April, the PM was involved in his duties. On 26 April, he attended a passing-out ceremony at the Pakistan Military Academy Kakul in Abbottabad alongside Gen Munir, according to a photo by The Associated Press and video reports by PTV.
On 28 April, he attended a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI), PTV reported; the PM’s Office posted a group photo of Sharif and the four provinces’ chief ministers from the event on X. He was also photographed at two other events on that day.
Lastly, had the prime minister been hospitalised, major reputable news outlets would have reported it.
Dawn news clipping
Soch Fact Check scoured Dawn’s website to see if any report titled “Piles Diagnosis Sparks PM Health Speculation: Information Blackout Raises Concerns” was published on 30 April 2025. However, we did not find such an article or any other about Sharif’s health concerns from the same date.
We then reached out to Dawn for a comment and received the following confirmation from an official, who said, “Dawn can confirm no such story was carried on any of its mediums and this image in question is doctored.”
Information Ministry notification
Soch Fact Check searched the website of Ministry Information and Broadcasting for such a notification but did not come across any.
Moreover, the notification itself has multiple errors; for example, Pakistan’s Information Minister is Attaullah Tarar, not Attaullah Khan. Secondly, the signature on the document is of Chris Hemsworth; this can be seen on Wikimedia Commons and E! Online, which reported on the Australian actor being named GQ’s Man of the Year in 2016.
On the other hand, Tarar’s signature can be seen in a letter here for reference.
Lastly, Pakistan does not have a “National Security Act”; it has a “National Security Council Act, 2004,” “Protection of Pakistan Act, 2014,” “National Command Authority Act, 2010,” “Security of Pakistan Act, 1952,” “National Security Policy (NSP) 2022-2026,” and a “National Cyber Security Policy 2021”.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes that the three documents — the letter, the news clipping, and the notification — are all fake or doctored.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the false claim posted here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook. It was also shared in various videos here, here, here, here, here, and here.
The letter was posted here, here, here, here, and here on Instagram, here, here, here, here, and here on Threads, and here, here, here, here, and here on YouTube.
Some of the most viral X posts can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, where they gained over 1.2 million, 216,400, 196,900, 183,300, 89,200, 80,400, and 62,500 views, respectively.
Multiple Indian media outlets ran the claim as authentic news; these included Odisha Bytes News, Times Now News, Republic TV, Punjab Kesari, Oneindia Hindi, Prabhasakshi, TamilWire, and Kannada Prabha.
Umesh Kumar Agarwal, the founder and editor of IndiaChronicle, posted the fake letter on LinkedIn, where it garnered over 320 reactions.
Conclusion: All of the claims are false. The PM’s Office letter is forged and contains factual errors, the signature on the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting notification is of actor Chris Hemsworth, and Dawn did not publish the article in question.
Background image in cover photo: ShehbazSharif
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