Claim: In a past interview with Rajat Sharma in ‘Aap ki Adalat’, Imran Khan admitted that his cancer hospital, Shaukat Khanum, was a front for unethical drug testing experiments, with links to his former in-laws’ pharmaceutical companies.
Fact: The video in the claim is edited to misrepresent Khan’s response. In fact, he rebutted the allegations saying: “On this topic…In English, it is called a ‘gone case’, let’s not talk further on this.”
Background
Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre was founded in 1994 by Imran Khan in memory of his mother, Shaukat Khanum, who passed away after battling cancer. The hospital was established as a charitable trust to provide cancer treatment, and has since expanded to Lahore,Peshawar, and Karachi.
Imran Khan is the founding chairman of the hospital and its principal fundraiser, and Shaukat Khanum asserts that its daily operations are run by professional medical and administrative teams with a formal governance structure.Frequently, such questions have risen, for example the usage of donor’s money, money laundering through the hospital. But,all allegations are yet to be confirmed through any official government investigations,like the claim being investigated by Soch.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched the image and keyframe of Imran Khan from the social media clip,to find the original link to the interview. The image below was used in the search:
However, this reverse image search lead to the original footage:
The official broadcast of the interview on Indian channels was on 13 November 2004 (archive), however Soch Fact accessed India TV’s YouTube channel on 14 March 2018 to analyze the interview.
A review of the interview led us to the part on the allegations around Shaukat Khanum and its ties to; Khan’s former in-laws.Talk host Rajat Sharma brings up several allegations levelled by Khan’s former cricket teammate Sarfraz Nawaz. The timestamps, 14:48 – 14:58 the former teammate is mentioned to be putting these constant allegations.
In the 16:05 – 16:42 timestamps, is where Sharma brings up the allegations against Shaukat Khanum. The exchange is quoted below:
Host Rajat Sharma questioned Imran Khan’s stating:
اس نے ایک اور الزام لگایا کہ آپ نے جو ہسپتال بنایا ہے وہ یہودی دوا ساز کمپنیاں ہیں جو آپ کے سابق سسرال کی کمپنیاں ہیں۔ وہ انسانوں پر کینسر کی دوائیں بنانے کے لیے کچھ تجربات کرنا چاہتے تھے۔ وہ تجربہ کیا جانا چاہیے، اور یہ آپ کے ہسپتال میں ہونا چاہیے۔ اس لیے اس ہسپتال پر اتنا پیسہ خرچ کیا گیا۔
“He made another accusation that the hospital you built was because of the Jewish pharmaceutical companies which are your former in-laws’ companies. They wanted to do some experiments to create cancer drugs on humans. That experiment should be done and it should be in your hospital. That is why so much money was spent on this hospital.”
Imran Khan’s response to this question was:
میں نے آپ کو بتایا تھا کہ وہ جانوروں سے نیچے گر گیا ہے۔ انگریزی میں اسے گون کیس کہتے ہیں۔ وہ ایک احمق آدمی ہے۔ وہ صرف احمق ہی نہیں، وہ ایک برا آدمی ہے۔”
“I told you that he has fallen below the level of animals. In English, it is called a gone case. He is a stupid man. He is not only stupid, he is a bad man.”
This segment is the one that has been clipped and digitally altered in the video being fact-checked to make it seem like Khan admitted to his former inlaws’ involvement in Shaukat Khanum’s operations. Soch Fact Check above quotes the original context where he is pushing back on his former teammate who made these allegations. It’s a short exchange during a broader set of questions about his life, politics, and controversies.
Virality
The video was shared with the claim on X here and here.
This claim was found on instagram here as well.
Conclusion:
Imran Khan did not admit that Shaukat Khanum was created for unethical experiments by his former in-laws’ pharmaceutical companies. An old clip from his interview with Rajat Sharma was edited to misrepresent his remarks.
Background Image:
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com