Claim: A video shows Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar recently being heckled at a US airport following his comments about Aafia Siddiqui’s case.
Fact: This claim is misleading. The video in question predates his remarks.
A video has been shared online alleging that Ishaq Dar was recently heckled after his remarks about Aafia Siddiqui.
Ishaq Dar’s comments about Aafia Siddiqui
During a recent visit to the US, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. He referred to Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s case while responding to a question about former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s imprisonment. Dar stated that Pakistan had not interfered in Dr Siddiqui’s case because the US had followed its judicial process, and similarly, Imran Khan had been sentenced through Pakistan’s legal system, implying that due process must be respected in both countries.
The remarks sparked backlash from Siddiqui’s legal team, with her lawyer calling the comparison “idiotic” and one that undermined her case. In response, Dar clarified that his comments were being taken out of context and reiterated that the PML-N government had consistently provided legal and diplomatic support for Dr Siddiqui’s release.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes from the video and found a still used as the header image for a Geo News report published in October 2022, titled “Man abuses Ishaq Dar at Washington Airport.” According to the report, “a man hurled abuses” at Dar, who was the Finance Minister at the time, at the Washington Airport.
The report noted that an individual accompanying Dar responded to the heckler, after which the man appeared to stop. This is also visible in the viral video.
A Dawn report carried an extended version of the video, in which a man can be heard shouting, “You’re a liar. You’re a chor [thief],” to which Dar replies, “You’re a liar.” Mani Butt, the president of PML-N’s Virginia chapter accompanying Dar in the video, can also be seen exchanging profanities with the heckler, the report added.
According to Dawn, the incident occurred at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., shortly after Dar had arrived in the US for key meetings with global financial institutions.
While neither report provides context for the incident, the video is identical to the one circulating with the recent claim. This makes the claim misleading, as the incident actually took place in October 2022, nearly two years ago.
Virality
The video has been shared here, here, and here on Facebook. Archived here, here, and here.
On Instagram, it was shared here (archive).
On TikTok, it was shared here (archive).
Conclusion: The viral claim incorrectly links Ishaq Dar’s recent comments on Aafia Siddiqui to a heckling incident at a US airport. The video is from October 2022.
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Background image in cover photo: Dawn
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