Facing backlash, Imran Khan deletes false tweets in which he sought to target India

Image
ANI Asia
Last Updated : Jan 03 2020 | 11:20 PM IST

Facing a backlash for peddling fake news, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday deleted all three videos from his Twitter timeline in which he falsely claimed that the Uttar Pradesh police was carrying out "a pogrom" against Muslims in Uttar Pradesh.

A video shared by Khan was soon fact-checked and found to be of 2013 and showed police action against a group of people in Bangladesh. The Pakistan Prime Minister had tried to pass off the clip as a case of police brutality "against Muslims" in Uttar Pradesh.

"Indian police's pogrom against Muslims in UP," Khan had tweeted.

At one point in the now-deleted video, a policeman is seen holding a shield of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), proving that it was an incident in Bangladesh. The RAB is an elite anti-crime and anti-terrorism unit of the Bangladesh Police.

Uttar Pradesh police took a swipe at Khan over his misleading tweets.

"This is not from UP, but from a May 2013 incident in Dhaka, Bangladesh.The RAB(Rapid Action Battalion) written on the vests at 0:21s, 1:27s or the Bengali spoken, or these links would help you be better informed," UP Police tweeted.

Khan faced a strong backlash on social media for tweeting the face video with users saying that he does not even do basic fact-checking.

"Sources: Imran Khan has just exited a WhatsApp group named "Say No To CAA" after a leading Indian journalist shared a fake video there, which Imran ended up putting on Twitter and embarrassing himself," tweeted a user.

"Pakistan PM Imran Khan is so geographically challenged that earlier for him Germany & Japan were immediate neighbours with a common border. Now he's passing off a video from Bangladesh as that from India. Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate," politician Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted.

The misleading tweets came at a time when the reports of a group of people vandalising Nankana Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan's Punjab province began surfacing.

Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content

*Subscribe to Business Standard digital and get complimentary access to The New York Times

Smart Quarterly

₹900

3 Months

₹300/Month

SAVE 25%

Smart Essential

₹2,700

1 Year

₹225/Month

SAVE 46%
*Complimentary New York Times access for the 2nd year will be given after 12 months

Super Saver

₹3,900

2 Years

₹162/Month

Subscribe

Renews automatically, cancel anytime

Here’s what’s included in our digital subscription plans

Exclusive premium stories online

  • Over 30 premium stories daily, handpicked by our editors

Complimentary Access to The New York Times

  • News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter & The Athletic

Business Standard Epaper

  • Digital replica of our daily newspaper — with options to read, save, and share

Curated Newsletters

  • Insights on markets, finance, politics, tech, and more delivered to your inbox

Market Analysis & Investment Insights

  • In-depth market analysis & insights with access to The Smart Investor

Archives

  • Repository of articles and publications dating back to 1997

Ad-free Reading

  • Uninterrupted reading experience with no advertisements

Seamless Access Across All Devices

  • Access Business Standard across devices — mobile, tablet, or PC, via web or app

More From This Section

First Published: Jan 03 2020 | 11:06 PM IST

Next Story