Claim: A video shows spectators chanting derogatory anti-Nawaz and pro-PTI slogans during Maryam Nawaz’s recent press conference in Japan.
Fact: The original footage of Maryam Nawaz’s Japan press conference shows only supportive chants. No derogatory or pro-PTI slogans can be heard. The viral videos are dubbed.
A video from Maryam Nawaz’s press conference during her Japan visit has been shared online containing the following text:
“مریم نواز کا چاپان میں خطاب کے دوران نعرے لگ گئے- وائرل مریم کے پاپا چور ہیں، وزیر اعظم عمران خان ۔۔ ویڈیو وائر
[Translation: During Maryam Nawaz’s speech in Japan, slogans were raised. Maryam’s father is a thief and Prime Minister Imran Khan… video goes viral.]
At the beginning of the video, crowds can be heard raising anti-Nawaz and pro-PTI slogans. “Maryam ke papa chor hain” [Maryam’s father is a thief] can be heard, followed by chants of “Na woh baaghi, na ghaddar, qaidi number 804. Jaan nisaar, jaan nisaar, hum teray jaan nisaar.” [Neither a rebel nor a traitor, prisoner number 804. Devoted, devoted, we are devoted to you.]
The chant is repeated but the following sounds are unintelligible. Then a woman’s voice is heard saying, “Kon bachaye ga Pakistan?” [Who will save Pakistan?] to which the crowd responds, “Imran Khan, Imran Khan.” She continues, “Imran teray jaan nisaar” [Imran your devotees], and the crowd replies, “Be-shumaar, be-shumaar” [Countless, countless].
Musician Salman Ahmed also shared the video on X, writing, “Yet everything reveals its TRUTH in the end….”
Another video of the same press conference, in which people can be heard chanting pro-Imran Khan slogans, has been shared with the text:
جاپان میں کنجری نانیوں کے ساتھ پر بینک ہو گی
نانی ۴۲۰ خطاب کی دوران عمران خان کے نعرے لگ کے
[Translation: The cheap grandmothers were pranked in Japan. People chanted slogans for Imran Khan during grandmother 420’s speech.]
People can be heard chanting, “Na woh baaghi, na ghaddar, qaidi number 804” [Neither a rebel nor a traitor, prisoner number 804].
Maryam Nawaz’s visit to Japan
On 15 August, the Chief Minister of Punjab departed for a five-day official visit to Tokyo on the special invitation of the Japanese government. She was accompanied by Senior Provincial Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Minister for Information and Heritage Azma Zahid Bokhari, and other officials.
On 17 August, the chief minister arrived at Haneda Airport in Tokyo to a warm welcome from senior Japanese government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, and overseas Pakistanis, The Nation reported. During the visit, Nawaz received a detailed briefing on urban development in Yokohama. Here, she discussed potential collaboration between the Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) and Yokohama, and ways to align Punjab’s construction standards with those of Japan. The chief minister also reviewed prospects of cooperating with Japan to run a Lahore-Islamabad high-speed train.
Following the trip, the Punjab government and the opposition PTI have sparred over the expenses of the trip, reported Dawn. Questions were also raised on social media regarding the trip’s expenses. Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari rejected a list of ‘participants’ of the Chief Minister’s visit circulating online, calling it “a pack of lies.” She clarified that the individuals mentioned in the list, members of the Sharif family and their friends, were not part of the official government delegation. Only officially nominated delegates had their expenses covered by the government, while all others bore their own costs privately, she said.
The viral claim may have surfaced amid PTI’s criticism of Nawaz’s trip expenses. It is worth noting that the chief minister has previously been targeted with similar forms of disinformation. For instance, videos of her have been dubbed with derogatory chants, which Soch Fact Check has debunked in the past.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check first searched for news reports because if the Punjab Chief Minister had been met with such chants during her press conference, it would have likely been widely reported. However, we did not find any relevant reports.
Soch Fact Check then traced the original video by searching for Nawaz’s press conference in Japan during her recent visit. We found the extended footage shared by Neo News titled “CM Punjab Maryam Nawaz Addresses Ceremony in Japan | Pakistani Community | Neo News.” The complete video of the address does not show that Nawaz was met with any derogatory chants or chants related to the jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
In fact, the slogans audible during her address were: “Maryam Nawaz zindabad” [Long live Maryam Nawaz], “Teri awaz, meri awaz, Maryam Nawaz” [Your voice, my voice, Maryam Nawaz], “Qaum ki beti zindabad” [Long live the daughter of the nation], “Qaum ki beti Maryam Nawaz” [Daughter of the nation Maryam Nawaz] “Dekho dekho kon aya, sher aya, sher aya” [Look, look, who has come – the lion has come, the lion has come], “Pakistan zindabad” [Long live Pakistan]
At different points during her speech, spectators repeated the same slogans.
The video being fact-checked appears to have spliced parts of the original footage of the press conference to depict Maryam Nawaz, Azma Bokhari, and Marriyum Aurangzeb’s reactions to the chants.
We reviewed additional footage of the same press conference shared by GTV News and ARY News, which followed the same course and did not show any chants mentioned in the viral claim.
Additionally, Shaur Azher, an audio engineer at Soch Videos (our sister company), analysed both viral videos and shared his observations. In the first video, multiple audio layers have been cross-faded, he said. For instance, from 0:00 to 0:04, the audio is different compared to 0:04 to 0:13, which sounds like it was recorded outdoors, possibly on a road, Azher explained.
He added that from 0:13 to 0:19, the audio changes again and appears to come from a different source. From 0:19 until the end – where the woman is chanting along with the crowd – there is no reverb or echo that you would expect in a hall. Instead, it sounds like a street protest recording. This suggests that the audio has been dubbed, he concluded.
Similar irregularities were found in the second video, according to Azher. The audio of the chants seem to have been taken from protest recordings and added to the videos in the claim using editing software.
Based on our review of the original footage and Azher’s analysis, Soch Fact Check concludes that both the viral videos are dubbed.
Virality
The first video was shared here, here, here, and here on Facebook. Archived here, here, here and here.
On Instagram, it was shared here (archive) and here (archive).
On X, it was shared here (archive).
The second video was shared here (archive) on Facebook
On Instagram, it was shared here (archive).
Conclusion: The video shared in the claim was dubbed with pro-PTI and anti-Nawaz slogans. The original footage only shows slogans chanted in support of Maryam Nawaz.
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Background image in cover photo: Maryam Nawaz Official
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