Netizens call out Imran Khan for spreading misinformation

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan drew flak from social media users for propagating misinformation after he shared an old video of a burning truck citing it as one belonging to his party’s member of the provincial assembly (MPA) from Karachi, Malik Shahzad Awan.

Taking to Twitter, Khan and PTI had tweeted videos of burning trucks and claimed they belonged to Awan who, according to them, was being pressured to quit the party. It was also claimed that his trucks were burned after he refused to do so.

Social media users were quick to call out the PTI chief and his party for spreading misinformation, as the trucks in the video were originally a year older and of the fire incident in Nowshera’s oil depot.

Resultantly, the cricketer-turned-politician and PTI had to take down the tweets, which they earlier shared in haste without verifying the origins of the video.

In the now-deleted tweets, Khan wrote: "Our MPA from Sindh (Karachi) Malik Shahzad Awan was pressured to leave PTI. When refused, his fleet was put on fire and destroyed. All PTI ticket holders and aspirants today are facing this fascism, our fundamental rights are being openly violated while our judiciary helplessly watches on."

The PTI, meanwhile, tweeted: "Our MPA from Sindh Malik Shahzad Awan's trucks have been put on fire when he refused to leave PTI. His business has been completely destroyed."

After the civil and military leadership resolved to punish the rioters and instigators of the May 9 violent protests which erupted after the arrest of Khan — who faces a slew of cases ranging from corruption to terrorism — droves of PTI leaders have quit the party with some either shifting their allegiance to other parties and others bidding adieu to politics altogether.

The exodus confronting his party has been termed by Khan as 'forced divorce', particularly after prominent names including Shireen Mazari, Fawad Chaudhry, Imran Ismail and Ali Zaidi, among others, parted ways with PTI and Khan.

"We had all heard about forced marriages in Pakistan but for PTI a new phenomenon has emerged, forced divorces," Khan — a former prime minister  — said in a tweet.

The party's leaders have been announcing their departure as not only public and private buildings but also military installations — including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi — were attacked on May 9.