Rana Sanaullah admits to May 9 inquiry report lacking crucial evidence against culprits

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team has checked this content and has established that it is false.

To arrive at this verdict, the IVerify Pakistan team has investigated the entire interview of PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah from which the video clip is sourced.

HOW IT STARTED

On May 9, 2024, an X user, who appeared to be a PTI supporter based on their past posts, shared a video clip of Sanaullah in an interview on Geo News programme ‘Capital Talk’.

The caption of the post said: “In the inquiry report made by the caretaker government regarding May 9, nothing has been found through which it can be said that there is really strong evidence against those who are responsible for May 9. This report can not be valued at this level. Confession of Rana Sanaullah.”

The clip was 42 seconds long and gained over 25,000 views.

A transcription of the clip is reproduced below:

Anchorperson Hamid Mir: “The caretaker government, whose prime minister was Anwaarul Haq Kakar, was in power for approximately six months. They had six months to conduct an inquiry against those responsible for May 9. The inquiry report of the then-interior ministry was presented in today’s cabinet session. Did you find anything in that report because of which you can say that strong evidence has been collected against those responsible for May 9?”

Sanaullah: “I do not value the report at that level.”

Self-described broadcast journalist Maleeha Hashmi also shared the same clip on her X account, saying: “Rana Sanaullah had admitted that nothing was found in the inquiry report of the caretaker government regarding May 9 that could be presented as strong evidence against the May 9 accused. This report cannot be valued at a level that can prove the allegation.”

Her post gained over 209,000 views.

The same clip was shared by multiple X users with similar captions here, here, and here.

METHODOLOGY

The iVerify Pakistan team sought to determine the veracity of the claim due to the video’s virality as well as the seemingly contrarian nature of a senior PML-N leader openly admitting to the May 9 inquiry report being found lacking in presenting evidence against the culprits.

The team’s investigation on the clip’s origin traced it back to an interview of Sanaullah on Geo News programme ‘Capital Talk’ with anchor Hamid Mir on May 9, 2024.

The question by the anchor about the May 9 report was asked at the 6:57-minute mark.

Sanaullah’s complete response to the question was: “I do not value that report at that level. The matter is this that the proofs for the events of May 9 are so clear that there is no room for doubt or suspicion in it.”

The report did not come up for discussion at any other point in the interview.

BACKGROUND

According to Dawn.com, after the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan, on May 9, 2023, 62 outbreaks of violence erupted across Pakistan, resulting in at least 10 deaths, hundreds of injuries, and significant damage to public buildings and military installations. The military attributes the events to a coordinated attack by PTI leadership, emphasising the existence of irrefutable evidence while the PTI calls for a judicial inquiry into the “real culprits”.

A committee was formed by the caretaker government in January 2024 to investigate the nationwide violence that occurred on May 9, 2023.

According to a May 10, 2024, report from The News on the inquiry’s findings, it said the evidence revealed that the violence was orchestrated as part of a coordinated strategy by PTI leadership. It concluded that responsibility for the events rested solely on the leadership of the PTI.

CONCLUSION

The iVerify Pakistan team has determined that the claim regarding Rana Sana is false since he did not say or do anything as is attributed to him in the circulating social media posts.

Even though the PML-N leader dismissed the report as lacking value, he did not specifically say or admit that it lacked crucial evidence against the May 9 culprits.

Passing no comment on any evidence in the report, he instead doubled down and said that the proofs against those responsible for May 9 were clear.

Evidence and References

‘Capital Talk’ – Geo News May 9, 2024, show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbEk8SH8teA