By Archis Chowdhury
A video showing Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto celebrating with other Pakistani leaders, is being shared on social media with the claim that it shows Pakistani leaders celebrating the recent arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
BOOM found this claim to be false; our fact check reveals that the video is from April 2022, and shows Bhutto celebrating with other Pakistani leaders after Imran Khan was ousted as prime minister, following a no-confidence motion.
Khan, who leads the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf, was arrested outside Islamabad High Court earlier this week in an anti-corruption case, leading to widespread unrest around the country, after his followers clashed with the authorities. The post is being shared in this backdrop.
Also Read:How Has Imran Khan's Arrest Pushed Pakistan To The Brink of Division?
A Twitter user shared the footage with the caption, “Cabal of crooks having fun after Khan Saab’ arrest… your days are doomed, soon or later we’ll get back to you.”
Click here to view an archive of the tweet.
Fact-Check
BOOM listened to the video closely, and heard the group of people chant the phrase, "Ragre pe ragra", in Urdu.
Taking cue from this, we did a keyword search with "ragre pe ragra bilawal bhutto", and was led to the exact same video, uploaded on YouTube on April 8, 2022.
The video was uploaded by the channel "Abdul Qadir Patel" - the name of the person seen walking with Bhutto in the video, who also happens to be Pakistan's Minister of National Health Services.
On April 8, 2022, Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote after he was deserted by coalition partners, following a three and a half year tenure as prime minister. With general elections in Pakistan this year, Khan's arrest and the ongoing cases against him, will eventually decide whether he gets to stand for elections again.
