Sheikh Rashid did not say that Imran Khan sold PTI ticket for Rs30m

The iVerify Pakistan team has checked this content and has established that it is false.

To arrive at this verdict, the iVerify Pakistan team investigated the video of Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid from the hospital.

HOW IT STARTED

The earliest mention of the around 30-second clip that the iVerify Pakistan team found was posted by self-described journalist Ali Raza on social media platform X on January 31, 2024, with the caption, “Sheikh Rashid has revealed from the hospital that Imran Khan has sold a ticket worth 30 million to PTI candidate Shehryar Riaz for NA-56 constituency.”

The post was viewed over 249,000 times.

The same video clip and claim were shared by another X user, gaining over 72,000 views. Another user shared the same video, gaining over 77,000 views.

METHODOLOGY

The iVerify Pakistan team sought to determine the veracity of the claim due to the public’s keen interest in the February 8 general elections just a week away and the status of PTI-backed independent candidates.

Furthermore, the team observed that various users questioned Raza why he added Imran to his claim when Rashid did not mention him in the video.

Instead of responding to the questions, Raza instead asked who had distributed the PTI tickets, implying that Imran had.

However, the team’s investigation yielded a Jan 14 report from The Express Tribune titled: “Imran ‘in the dark’ about ticket allocations” and a Jan 13 report from Geo News titled: “Imran Khan distances himself from PTI’s ticket distribution for general elections”.

Both reports said that when questioned by party workers on the ticket distribution, Imran distanced himself from the process and said he was not aware of it.

“I don’t know who got the ticket and who didn’t,” he was quoted as saying by both reports.

Next, the iVerify team traced the video and found that it was posted on Rashid’s official X account on Jan 31.

The video’s transcript is reproduced below:

“With god as my witness, I say this … that Shehryar Riaz bought this ticket for Rs30m from them. God willing they will take a sound beating.”

Rashid did not specify who he was referring to by “them” in his statement but he did not mention Imran anywhere in the video.

iVerify contacted his nephew Sheikh Rashid Shafique via Dawn reporter Nadir Gurmani for comment on the matter.

Shafique said Imran had no relation with the video and also denounced the posts circulating online associated Rashid’s video with the PTI founder. “What need does Imran have for Rs30m?” Shafique said.

Shafique said the alleged payment referred to in the video “was made in London” and Rashid’s statement was not referring to it in the local context.

He further said: “Rashid will tell the name of the person to whom the payment was made in due time. Imran has nothing to do with this.”

BACKGROUND

Rashid had resurfaced in October last year after being detained in September. He had condemned the events of the May 9, 2023, riots and described the day as a “black day” for Imran.

The distancing was made official when the PTI decided to field its candidates for the NA-56 and NA-57 constituencies: Riaz and Seemaba Tahir.

As per a Jan 13 Dawn report, Rashid had ” tried to get the support of the PTI” and “tried to convince PTI to support him and not field any candidate against him” but to no avail.

Rashid had submitted papers for NA-56 and NA-57 but withdrew from the latter whereas his nephew withdrew his papers from the former in favour of NA-57. The two will be contesting from the AML’s platform.

CONCLUSION

The iVerify Pakistan team has determined that the claim circulating on social media is false as Rashid’s video statement did not mention Imran anywhere at all.

His nephew also confirmed to the outlet that the statement had nothing to do with Imran and was not referring to the PTI founder.