Video of PTI protesters resting on road after enduring two days of constant shelling

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team has reviewed this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, the iVerify Pakistan team conducted a reverse image search to investigate the video.

A video being shared on social media platform X since October 6, 2024, showed several people sleeping on the road with users claiming they were PTI protesters resting after two days of shelling However, the video is from August and is unrelated to the recent protests.

On October 4 and 5, PTI protesters staged rallies in Islamabad and Lahore, respectively, which escalated to the point of clashes with the police and tear gassing. The PTI has carried out multiple rallies across the country in recent weeks, to raise its voice against the imprisonment of its founder Imran Khan and the Election Commission of Pakistan’s delay in implementing the Supreme Court’s July 2024 reserved seats verdict.

HOW IT STARTED

On October 6, a user, who appeared to be a PTI supporter based on their past posts and cover photo, shared a video on X of hundreds of people sleeping on the streets.

The post’s caption said: “Long live the revolution. Champions who endured shelling for two days continuously, resting on the road.”

The post also used the hashtag “Khan’s devotees will venture out”.

The video gained over 328,000 views and was shared around 5,400 times. It did not share any other details such as the location of the video and where it was from.

The same video with the same caption was shared by several other users as can be seen here, here and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was carried out to verify the claim regarding the shop due to its high virality and public interest in the ongoing situation in Islamabad.

Conducting a reverse image search of the video yielded a YouTube result dating back to August 23, 2024, from a user describing themselves as a lifestyle blogger while sharing pro-PTI videos.

The video was titled, “PTI Jalsa Islamabad | Release Imran Khan | Tarnol Jalsa Islamabad | Pti Jalsa | Night View Roadside”.

Conducting a keyword search of “PTI rally Tarnol Islamabad” yielded an August 22 Dawn news report titled: “Capital’s red zone sealed ahead of ‘potentially volatile gatherings”.

As per the report, the PTI was set to hold a public gathering in Tarnol after months but the capital administration had revoked its no-objection certificate (NOC) barely 24 hours before the event.

After the cancellation of the NOC, police contingents also reached the venue of the public gathering at Tarnol Chowk and picked up over two dozen people present there, including those who were engaged in preparations

However, it could not be conclusively determined if the video was of PTI supporters in Tarnol from August 2024 since some users said the video was of the Jamaat-i-Islami’s party workers. However, a keyword or reverse image search did not yield any result affiliated with the religious party.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a viral video shows PTI protesters sleeping on the road after enduring shelling from the police is false.

The video was shared as far back as at least August 23, 2024, and is thus unrelated to the current PTI protests.

Evidence and References

August 23, 2024, YouTube video:
https://youtube.com/shorts/m7I4EvstmLg?si=OCm3JHKc5Kv0X9Im

August 22, 2024, Dawn news report:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1853832/capitals-red-zone-sealed-ahead-of-potentially-volatile-gatherings