Claim: A social media video claims to show Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) vice president Mian Javed Latif being beaten by a mob during an election campaign in his constituency.
Fact: The claim is false as the video is from 2017 when Latif was attacked by TLP supporters, who were protesting the government’s crackdown on their sit-in at Faizabad, Islamabad at the time.
On 29 December 2023, a Facebook user posted a video (archived) with an Urdu caption,
“ن لیگی رہنما جاوید لطیف کی پٹائی. جاوید لطیف اپنے حلقے میں عوام سے ووٹ مانگنے نکلے تو عوام نے انکار کیا.”
[The beating of PML-N leader Javed Latif. When Javed Latif went out to ask for votes from the people in his constituency, the people refused.]
The 35-second video depicts a mob carrying sticks, chasing and beating Javed Latif, the vice president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Latif ultimately escapes on a motorcycle, as gunshots are heard in the background.
Fact or Fiction?
To investigate, Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse image search on the keyframes of the video. The results on Google led to a Facebook video published by Dunya News on 27 November 2017; the same video as that of the viral clip can be seen here.
The title of the video, translated into English reads, “Violent protesters beat up PML-N MNA Javed Latif and his workers.”
Furthermore, a keyword search on Google led to a YouTube report by 24 News HD published on 25 November 2017, with the title, “MNA Javed Latif attacked.” The news anchor elaborates in the video that the incident happened in Sheikhupura when Latif tried negotiating with the protesters.
According to a news article by Express Tribune, published on 25 November 2017, Latif was attacked by men protesting against the government’s crackdown on the Faizabad sit-in and was injured while he was trying to address protesters in Sheikhupura. The unrest was caused by the police crackdown on protesters in the capital on 8 November 2017. Latif’s security in-charge and a counsellor were also injured in the attack.
In 2017, the government of PML-N amended the Elections Act 2017 which ended up affecting a Khatm-e-Nabuwat (finality of prophethood) clause in the bill. The government repeatedly said that the change in wording was “a clerical error”, and the bill was restored to its original form later. However, anti-blasphemy protests erupted all across the country and the TLP led a sit-in in Islamabad.
Virality
On Facebook, the video posted by Naya Daur Videos received 67,000 views, 3,500 likes and 518 comments. Pro-PTI accounts mostly shared the video and the archived versions can be seen here, here and here.
The same video was also shared with a false caption here, here and here on X (formerly Twitter).
Conclusion: A video showing PML-N’s vice president, Mian Javed Latif attacked by a mob is not from an election campaign. The video is from 2017 when TLP protesters attacked the former MNA after a police crackdown.
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Background image in cover photo: News International
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