Maryam Nawaz did not hold photo of Ziaul Haq, Asim Munir at oath-taking ceremony

Claim: A picture of Maryam Nawaz Sharif during her oath-taking ceremony as Punjab’s chief minister shows her holding photos of Ziaul Haq and Gen Asim Munir.

Fact: The picture is doctored. Maryam Nawaz is actually holding a picture of Nawaz Sharif.

On 23 February 2024, X (formerly Twitter) user @WarriorWCA posted (archive) a picture of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif allegedly holding a photo of the country’s former president and military chief, the late Ziaul Haq, and Pakistan Army Chief Gen Syed Asim Munir.

The picture shows Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of Pakistan’s former premier and PML-N Supremo Nawaz Sharif, in the Punjab Assembly ahead of her oath-taking ceremony (archive) as the province’s chief minister.

Fact or Fiction?

Soch Fact Check used reverse image search tools to ascertain the origin of the picture. While some results showed versions depicting other individuals and captions on the poster in Nawaz’s hands, we did not find any relevant leads.

However, when we looked up news reports and social media posts by media outlets, we found an article (archive) showing the picture placed ahead of Nawaz, as well as a video showing her holding a picture of her father, Nawaz Sharif, here, here, here, and here. We also came across posts on TikTok and YouTube by Geo News carrying similar videos here and here, respectively.

In addition to this, Soch Fact Check scoured through the official Facebook and X accounts of Nawaz and the PML-N and found multiple images from the oath-taking ceremony — taken from different angles — along with a video that shows Nawaz Sharif on the poster she’s holding, not Ziaul Haq and Gen Asim Munir.

Virality

The post by @WarriorWCA has been viewed more than 60,000 times so far.

Soch Fact Check also came across other versions of the same picture, with different material and text doctored into it. These include a picture depicting only Gen Munir, another featuring a military officer’s boots with the text “بوٹ کو عزت دو [Respect the boot],” and a third showing Nawaz Sharif but with the text “ہم مینڈیٹ چور ہیں [We are mandate thieves]” edited into it.

Conclusion: A picture of Maryam Nawaz Sharif holding photos of Ziaul Haq and Gen Asim Munir during her oath-taking ceremony as Punjab’s chief minister is doctored. The original one shows her holding a picture of her father, Nawaz Sharif.

Background image in cover photo: TheMaryamNSharif

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