Posts from several PTI-affiliated accounts on social media platform X since Sunday shared a video of veteran Pakistani singer Attaullah Esakhelvi urging people to come out and participate in a pre-party PTI protest. November 24 Power Show. However, the video is old and is from March 2022.

On November 13, PTI founder Imran Khan made a “final call” for nationwide protests on November 24 (Sunday), denouncing what he described as the stolen warrant, unjust arrests of people and the passage of the 26th Amendment, which he said strengthened a “regime dictatorial”.

Since Imran’s arrest in August 2023 on several charges, his party has held protests across the country for his release and against the alleged fraud in the February 8, 2024 elections.

November 17, digital media platform Naya Pakistanwhich describes itself as a political channel according to its X organicposted a video by Esakhelvi with the following caption: “Come out for the sake of Pakistan. Leave for the sake of your Khan.

In the video, Esakhelvi can be heard saying, “Come out for the sake of Pakistan. Leave for the sake of your Khan. If we lose this chance, our future generations will never forgive us. May God protect you all and this soil.

The video has been viewed more than 185,000 times and shared 13,000 times.

PTI MP Jamshaid Ahmad Dasti also common the same video with the same caption on

The same video with the same caption was widely shared by PTI supporters, as can be seen here, here And here.

Some official PTI accounts also shared the video and caption, as can be seen. here And here.

Meanwhile, a different version of the video was also shared by those critical of the PTI. A user, who seemed anti-PTI based on his past posts, shared a video on X on November 18 from the singer while calling for people to listen to him carefully.

In the video, Esakhelvi could be heard saying, “Come out for Qasim and Suleman. Exit for Tyrian. We are not shameless enough to send our children to die in the streets while Imran’s Jewish children live lavishly in Britain. Shame on you, Imran Khan. Stop the politics of corpses. Long live Pakistan!

The post has been viewed 25,600 times.

It was also common by musician Jawad Ahmed, who is also the president of Pakistan’s Barabri Party, with 64,100 views.

A fact check was launched to verify the claim due to its virality, keen public interest in Imran’s protest call and to resolve the discrepancy between two versions of the same video with different messages from the singer.

Performing a reverse image search from screenshots of the video returned results from 2022 as it was redirected to Esakhelvi’s Instagram account.

The singer had posted the video on his Instagram account on March 26, 2022. The transcription of the video is presented below:

“Attaullah Esakhelvi is present with a request. We left for Islamabad on March 27. Leave for the sake of Pakistan. Leave for the sake of your Khan. If we lose this chance, our future generations will never forgive us. May God protect you all and this soil.

Esakhelvi urged people to participate in PTI elections March 27 rally at Islamabad’s parade ground, where Imran first claimed a “foreign-funded plot” was being hatched against his government before censure proceedings against him began .

Compared to the original video, it could be seen in the video shared by PTI-affiliated accounts that the sentence mentioning March 27 had been removed.

Further investigation also resulted in a June 20, 2023 press article written by The Pakistani daily titled: “I composed anthems for Imran Khan, but now I am ashamed,” says Attaullah Esakhelvi.

According to the report, Esakhelvi said he supported the PTI and had created anthems for it in the past, but distanced himself from the party and condemned it after the nationwide riots from May 9, 2023.

He could therefore not have released a video inviting people to participate in the power show on November 24 since he has not publicly associated himself with the PTI since then.

On the other hand, the version in which Esakhelvi criticized Imran was dubbed and manipulated as the audio did not match her lip sync, such as between two and four seconds where the audio continues despite no movement of the singer’s lips.

Therefore, the fact check determined that the claim that Esakhelvi posted a video message urging people to participate in the November 24 PTI rally is misleading since the video is old and is from March 2022 and shows him calling on people to attend a rally on March 27, 2022.

The original video mentioned the date March 27 and the current release of the video by removing this date could make people believe that the singer supports the party when he has long distanced himself from it.

Meanwhile, another version of the video circulating criticizing Imran and the PTI is fake and manipulated as it is dubbed with different audio from the original.

This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ and UNDP.