Claim: A video shows students at a school raising “Qaidi number 804” slogans during Maryam Nawaz’s visit.
Fact: The claim is false; the audio of slogans is dubbed.
A video of Punjab’s Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s visit to an educational institute has been shared online. It contains the following text: “لوجی سکول کے بچوں کو مریم نواز کے نعر- کار 10 کروائے گئے تھے جب مریم پہنچی تو انھوں نے قیدی نمبر 804 کے نعرے لگانے شروع کر دیئے”
[Translation: The school children had been made to rehearse slogans for Maryam Nawaz’s arrival, but when she arrived, they started chanting “prisoner number 804” instead.]
Over the past year, Soch Fact Check has debunked several instances of dubbed or doctored videos of political figures. In particular, we have recently fact-checked multiple similar videos of CM Punjab Maryam Nawaz that were falsely dubbed with slogans.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check questioned the claim’s authenticity as the chants seem to be raised by a much larger crowd than the group of young students gathered in the school building’s gallery. Crucially, the voices appear to belong to adults rather than children.
Therefore, we first reverse-searched keyframes from the viral video to trace its original source. While the exact footage was not found, we found clips that matched parts of the visuals seen in the viral video. The social media captions, linked the videos to Maryam Nawaz inaugurating the Centre of Excellence (Boys’ Campus) in Chakwal on 30 September. They show her interacting with students, inspecting the facilities, and waving to children holding Pakistan’s flags and her photographs. However, none of these videos carried their original audio; instead, they had been altered with different background sounds.
Soch Fact Check then reviewed media coverage of the event to gain further context. According to Dawn, CM Punjab Maryam Nawaz inaugurated the revamped Centre of Excellence in Chakwal, noting that several schools in the province had been overhauled. She stated, “Now if you get a chance to visit a government school in the province, you cannot judge whether it is a government school or a private one,” adding that one million students in Punjab receive milk packets daily, the report added.
Business Recorder reported that during the visit, the chief minister invited students from the upper gallery to come closer, standing among them as they chanted slogans and clapped in excitement. Some of these moments are also visible in the footage. The report added that Nawaz was briefed on the school’s facilities and planted a tree to formally launch a plantation campaign at the campus.
Shaur Azher, an audio engineer at our sister company Soch Videos, analysed the viral clip and pointed out that the audio overlay appears to be from a protest. “Although only a few students are visible in the footage, the background chants resemble those of a large crowd of adults rather than schoolchildren,” he said, reiterating our initial observation. “The tone, intensity, and rhythm of the chants do not align with the visuals.”
Additionally, Azher explained that given the height and structure of the school building, any genuine on-site chanting would naturally produce a hall-like reverb. “However, the audio in the viral video lacks this effect and instead sounds as though it was recorded indoors, likely in a confined or auditorium-like space.”
Importantly, Soch Fact Check has previously debunked another video that used the same audio. Although the posts were removed after being flagged, the fact-check confirms that the audio in the viral clip was dubbed and is not authentic.
Virality
The claim was shared here, here, and here on Facebook. Archived here, here, and here.
On X, it was shared here (archive).
On Instagram, it was shared here (archive) and here (archive)
Conclusion: The audio in the viral clip is dubbed over.
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Background image in cover photo: Maryam Nawaz Sharif Facebook
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