Video of PML-N’s Javed Latif attacked by a mob is an old one, not new

The iVerify Pakistan team has checked this content and has established that it is misleading since it is old footage from a previous incident.

To arrive at this verdict, the iVerify Pakistan team analysed the video and sourced it back to an incident in November 2017.

HOW IT STARTED

The earliest mention of the video the iVerify Pakistan team found was by a PTI supporter on social media platform X on December 29th at 5:30pm.

With over 540,000 views and 9,600 shares, the post’s caption said: “When PML-N leader Javed Latif sought votes from the people in his constituency, they refused. However, Javed Latif resorted to bullying, prompting the people to retaliate with sticks, kicks and punches. He managed to save his life by fleeing on a motorcycle.”

The same video and caption were shared by a fan page for journalist and anchorperson Sabir Shakir, garnering over 220,000 views and 5,300 shares.

METHODOLOGY

Investigating the video, the iVerify Pakistan team conducted a keyword search on “Javed Latif”, “mob” and “Sheikhupura”, and found two videos uploaded on Dailymotion on November 27, 2017.

The first video was the same as the current one being circulated, showing a mob chasing and beating Latif.

The second video appeared to be a media talk of the PML-N leader after the attack.

The team found several news articles on the incident from November 25, 2017.

A Dawn.com story said Latif was “injured while he was trying to address protesters in Sheikhupura”.

An article by the Express Tribune said Latif was wounded by “men protesting against the crackdown on the Faizabad sit-in”.

FAIZABAD 2017 SIT-IN

According to Dawn.com, daily life in Islamabad was disrupted for 20 days (from October 2 to November 27, 2017) when protesters belonging to religiopolitical parties occupied the Faizabad Interchange which connects Rawalpindi and Islamabad through the Islamabad Expressway and Murree Road, both of which are the busiest roads in the twin cities.

The government had attempted to negotiate in vain with the protesters to end the sit-in several times. Finally, it launched an operation to disperse the protesters, in which at least six people were killed and scores others injured. As the protests spread to other cities after the botched operation, the government decided to call in the army for help.

Negotiations were undertaken with protesters once again, and the government accepted a number of their demands in return for ending the protest.

CONCLUSION

The iVerify team has determined that the video circulating on social media is misleading as it is an old video from November 2017 of Javed Latif being attacked by a mob in Sheikhupura rather than having anything to do with the current election campaigning for the upcoming February 8 general polls.