Video of Maryam Nawaz leaving for Geneva with people chanting slogans against her

Rating Justification

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

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a reverse image search to find the original clip of Maryam Nawaz.

On November 8, several X users shared a video of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz at Lahore airport surrounded by people, chanting slogans against her. However, the video is dubbed over and originally from September 2023 when PML-N supporters welcomed her at the airport with slogans in favor of her.

On November 6, Senior Provincial Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb revealed in a presser that the Punjab CM will be leaving for Geneva, Switzerland to get a medical checkup for the thyroid gland, and also revealed that she was previously hospitalised at the Sharif Medical City in Lahore due to health issues.

HOW IT STARTED

On November 6, a user on X, who is a PTI supporter based on their username and past posts, shared a video of Maryam Nawaz being escorted out at Lahore airport.

The clip shows her being surrounded by several people who can be heard chanting slogans against her, saying, “Maryam’s father is a thief”.

The slogan takes a dig at the former prime minister and her father Nawaz Sharif who was previously found guilty of corruption and was sentenced to 10 years in prison by an anti-corruption court, in July 2018.

“Maryam Nawaz left for Geneva from Lahore Airport,” the caption of the post read.

The post received 104,500 views and was reshared 867 times.

The video was also shared by other X users here, here and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to verify the claim due to its virality and the nature of the claim as it showed the Punjab CM being surrounded by protesters at the airport.

Upon investigating the clip, the team was unable to match the audio with the protester’s lip movements as the quality of the video appeared to be poor.

To further investigate the circulated video, a Google reverse image search was conducted to trace the original clip, which yielded X post from September 26, 2023.

A video of much better quality was posted by Amir Qayyum Bhatti (Gujrat), who according to his X bio is PML-N’s District President, Gujrat. In the caption he wrote, “Chief Organiser PML-N Maryam Nawaz Reached Lahore Airport.”

In the video, people can be seen and heard praising Maryam as they chant slogans like, “Nation’s daughter, nation’s voice, Maryam Nawaz”, contrary to what the recent version depicts.

The video was also posted on the X accounts of other local district officials, Mirza Zahid PMLN SWL and Sheikh Rehan, on the same date with the same caption.

All the three above-mentioned accounts are followed by Maryam’s X account as well.

Looking up news reports of Maryam’s arrival in Lahore, in September 2023, also yielded news bulletins by ARY News and SUCH News, running the same video of her arriving at Lahore airport after a visit from London.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim regarding Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz being surrounded by people chanting slogans against her, at Lahore airport, while she’s leaving for Geneva is false.

The video is dubbed over and is originally from September 2023 when Maryam arrived from London.

Evidence and References

September 26, 2023, Amir Qayyum Bhatti’s X post:
https://perma.cc/GDM6-7WGX

September 26, 2023, ARY News 8 PM Headlines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anieR2YlZ2k

September 26, 2023, SUCH News 9 PM Headlines:
https://youtu.be/XkjuMK3xT9o?si=uONBH4EAFQ8uajiW