Video of MWM workers chanting anti-Pakistan slogans at Numaish sit-in in Karachi

Rating Justification

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

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan examined the video to determine what was being chanted by protesters.

Posts from multiple users on social media platforms shared a video on January 2, 2025, claiming it showed supporters of the religiopolitical Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) chanting anti-state slogans at a recent Karachi sit-in. However, the chants were actually against the United States, not Pakistan.

The MWM staged sit-ins across various locations in Karachi since December 24, 2024, to draw the attention of law enforcement authorities to the violence in Parachinar and Kurram district. The protests concluded on January 1, 2025, after a successful peace agreement was reached among the different warring factions in Kurram.

The protests also saw violence and clashes between the demonstrators and the police at many spots in Karachi during its last days.

HOW IT STARTED

On January 2, a pro-PMLN account on X shared a video of a protest leader chanting “murdabad” (death) with the crowd responding in turn.

The caption of the post read: “A while ago, a major political party and its founder and leader were banned in Karachi for chanting ‘Pakistan Murdabad’ (death to Pakistan). Now, these people are openly raising the same slogan at Numaish. Let’s see if any restrictions are imposed on them in the coming days or not.”

The post gained 76,500 views.

The video was widely shared by other users with similar captions as can be seen here, here, here, here, and here.

The video was also shared by many users on Facebook as can be seen here, here, here, here and here.

The comments sections of the posts were observed with users calling for a ban on the MWM and terming it a traitorous group along with other hateful comments.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and the potential to incite political and sectarian tensions due to the inflammatory allegations regarding the religio-political organisation’s loyalty.

Contrary to the viral allegations, checking the video showed that with the protest leader’s chant of “murdabad”, the crowd could be heard responding in kind with sloganeering of “America Murdabad” (death to America).

In the 35-second long video, the protest leader and crowd also chanted: “Whoever is a friend of America is a traitor, a traitor,” and there was no anti-state or anti-Pakistan speech.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a leader and workers of the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen chanted anti-Pakistan slogans at the Numaish sit-in in Karachi is false.

The viral video being circulated actually showed them chanting “death to America” and there was no slogan against the state of Pakistan. The allegations were a clear fabrication to spread and incite hate against the religiopolitical group since a basic examination of the circulating video showed the claim was not rooted in facts.

Evidence and References