Claim: A photo shows police using force against Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan’s workers who took out a Eid Miladun Nabi procession in October 2022.
Fact: The photo in question is from November 2o17, when TLP staged a protest to demand the then-law minister’s resignation over an omitted reference to Prophet Muhammad in a parliamentary bill.
Fact or Fiction:
On 17 October 2022, Twitter user Abdullah (@PyaraAbdullah) shared a photo claiming that it shows security forces using force against people [TLP workers] who took out an Eid Miladun Nabi procession.
“No protest, no sit-in, no demand, 4 Muslim Pakistanis were martyred for the crime of taking out a Milad procession only in Rabi Awwal after taking permission from the High Court,” his tweet reads.
Soch Fact Check found the claim to be misleading after searching the image with Google Lens. The search led us to an article published on 25 November 2017 by The New York Times titled, “Pakistan Calls In Army to Help Restore Order After Violent Clashes in Islamabad.” The report features the same photo accompanied by the caption,“The police fired rubber bullets to disperse protesters. Officials took television news off the air to prevent live coverage from inflaming religious sentiments. Credit…Anjum Naveed/Associated Press.”
The same photo was also featured in a Washington Post article published on the same date.
The demonstrations were staged by cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi’s political party Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan, which demanded the then law minister Zahid Hamid’s resignation accusing him of blasphemy over an omitted reference to Prophet Muhammad in a parliamentary bill.
On 18 October 2022, Dawn reported that TLP claimed that during a clash in the Abbottabad district, the police killed 10 of its workers and injured hundreds. The conflict erupted when the police tried to stop TLP workers from entering the limits of Havelian from Haripur despite a ban to attend an Eid Miladun Nabi procession.
The police denied ‘deaths’ but said that 33 officials were injured, 34 TLP workers were arrested, and cases were registered against Rizvi and other TLP leaders.
Conclusion: The photo is not from the recent Eid Miladun Nabi procession by TLP but from November 2017, when TLP staged a protest to remove the then-law minister.