Claim: A notification claims that the federal government has announced a public holiday on the occasion of Youm-e-Takreem Shuhada-e-Pakistan or Pakistan Martyrs Day.
Fact: The notification is fake. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting refuted the claim stating that no such notification has been issued.
On 23 May 2023, a notification was shared on social media claiming that the federal government announced a public holiday on account of Youm-e-Takreem Shuhada-e-Pakistan.
The news went viral after the federal government and COAS Asim Munir declared the observance of National Martyr Day on 25 May. Punjab interim Chief Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi also requested Prime Minister Shehbaz to declare 25 May as a public holiday.
Fact or Fiction?
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb debunked the claim and denied there would be a public holiday. Radio Pakistan also refuted the claim and FactCheckMOBI – the Ministry for Information and Broadcasting’s official handle to combat misinformation – also labeled the notification as false.
Moreover, the image shows obvious signs that it was doctored, as the signature of the seems to be pasted onto it.
Virality
Many media outlets initially believed the false notification and published it but later deleted it after confirmation. However, GNN’s post on the false news is still live on their Twitter account. The archived version of the same claim can be seen here, here, and here.
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis with the following keywords between 23 – 24 May 2023.
- 25 May Holiday in Pakistan
The key term received 2,400 interactions across 30 posts on Facebook. It can be seen here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: May 25 will not be a public holiday in Pakistan.