Viral video shows police protesters in Lakki Marwat against militancy; not Sher Marwat’s tribe demanding his release

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

To reach this conclusion, the iVerify Pakistan team conducted a reverse image search and investigated news reports regarding the protests.

Pro-PTI accounts shared a video on social media platform X on September 9, 2024, claiming it showed tribesmen protesting in Lakki Marwat for the release of MNA Sher Afzal Marwat. However, the protest was of police officers against militancy and had nothing to do with the lawmaker’s arrest.

A large number of policemen from neighbouring southern districts, including Bannu, DI Khan, Tank and Karak, as well as local tribesmen from different parts of Lakki Marwat joined a sit-in at the Lt Adnan Shaheed Chowk in the district’s Tajazai area on September 9.

The protest was held as two policemen were targeted in gun attacks on September 8. One attack was carried out in the Mangatra Gandi Khankhel area near Serai Naurang town, injuring sub-inspector Motabar Khan and his cousin, Asfand Yar Khan.

The sit-in by hundreds of police personnel in the district entered its third day on September 11, with no sign of an amicable resolution.

In an unrelated series of events, Islamabad police arrested several PTI leaders, including Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Sher Afzal Marwat, outside parliament on September 9. Police arrested Marwat for being involved in many cases and taken to an unknown location by police, who did not comment on the development.

HOW IT STARTED

On September 9, 2024, a pro-PTI digital media outlet Naya Pakistan shared a video of a large gathering of people, allegedly in a protest as police officials were seen giving a speech in Pashto.

The post’s caption said: “The tribe of Sher Afzal Khan Marwat started a protest in Lakki Marwat against the arrest of Afzal Khan Marwat.”

The post gained over 299,000 views and was reshared 10,000 times.

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

METHODOLOGY

A fact check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and significant public interest in and criticism of the manner of the PTI lawmakers’ arrests with some legal experts saying the move was illegal.

A reverse image search conducted to investigate the video yielded the same footage uploaded on the official channel of Aaj TV on Youtube on September 10 titled, “Lakki Marwat police stage sit-in over terror attacks”.

Conducting a keyword search for the words “Lakki Marwat”, “police” and “protests” yielded news stories from several outlets reporting on the sit-in,reporting that it was led by police officers against recent losses to militancy in the religion.

According to a news report published by leading English publication Dawn on September 10, police officials staged a joint sit-in with tribesmen in the Lakki Marwat district against an attack on two policemen carried out in Mangatra Gandi Khankhel area near Serai Naurang town.

According to the report, the protesters demanded the withdrawal of security forces from the district and the empowerment of police to deal with militants and other armed groups. Nowhere did the report, or any other by any other mainstream outlet, mention the protesters demanding Marwat’s release.

Furthermore, a police official, on condition of anonymity, told Dawn.com correspondent Zahid Imdad: “The ongoing police protest has nothing to do with the demand for the release of Sher Afzal Marwat.”

FACT-CHECK STATUS: MISLEADING

The claim that a video shows Sher Afzal Marwat’s tribesmen protesting in Lakki Marwat for his release is misleading.

The protest footage in the viral clip actually showed police officers demonstrating against recent militant attacks in the district. Omitting this vital context and background has the potential to misguide the public about what is actually happening in the video.