Claim: A video shows Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khurram Dastgir Khan snubbing Awami National Party (ANP) leader Aimal Wali Khan by refusing to hug him during a political meeting.
Fact: The video is cropped and taken out of context. Other videos from the same meeting show that the two leaders did embrace.
On 14 June 2023, Journalist @NadiaMirza_ shared a video of politicians Khurram Dastgir Khan and Aimal Wali Khan with the following caption: “Despite the desire and efforts of Aimal Wali Khan, Khurram Dastgir flatly refused to hug him. But why?”. The video shows Aimal Wali Khan approaching Khurram Dastgir Khan with his arms open, but Khurram Dastgir Khan shakes his hand instead. The tweet was shared after a meeting of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance of opposition parties.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check searched for other videos of the same meeting and found one posted on ANP’s official Twitter account on 15 June 2023, which posted a refutation to the claim made by journalists Nadia Mirza, Sabir Shakir, Khawar Ghumman and others. The tweet included a video of the two leaders hugging on the same day. The video shows the full interaction between Khurram Dastgir Khan and Aimal Wali Khan, which reveals that they did hug each other before shaking hands.
Soch Fact Check concludes that the videos shared online are misleading. The two leaders did not snub each other but greeted each other cordially. Other videos from the same meeting show that the two leaders did embrace.
Virality
The tweet has been viewed by over 76,000 Twitter users. The same video was also shared by other journalists, such as Sabir Shakir and Khawar Ghumman, with similar captions.
Conclusion: A video that purportedly shows PML-N leader Khurram Dastgir Khan snubbing ANP leader Aimal Wali Khan by refusing to hug him during a political meeting is cropped and taken out of context. Other videos from the same meeting show that the two leaders did embrace. The claim was made by several journalists on Twitter and was refuted by ANP’s official account.
To appeal our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com