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Thursday March 28, 2024

FIA formally asked to trace people behind ‘fake’ audio clips

By Salis bin Perwaiz
April 28, 2020

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has received a complaint from the Sindh government asking them to look into the “malicious propaganda” under way against the provincial administration on social media.

Sindh government spokesman Barrister Murtaza Wahab’s statement on Saturday had rejected the claims made in the audio clips circulating on social media that the provincial administration had been demanding money to allow the reopening of businesses in Karachi during the current preventive lockdown against local transmission of COVID-19.

Following up on his warning that the government would contact the FIA and other relevant institutions for starting legal action against the people spreading these “false” allegations, Wahab, who is also the chief minister’s law adviser, has now filed a complaint with the investigation agency.

Addressed to the FIA Sindh director, the government spokesman’s complaint says that two “fake” audio clips have gone viral on social media in the past few days and are being disseminated further through other platforms.

He says that “fallacious and highly damaging propaganda” against the provincial administration is under way through the means of these audio clips, which have also been tweeted by a member of the Sindh Assembly.

The adviser points out that the traders and businessmen whose names are falsely used in the audio clips have voluntarily come forward to “vehemently refute all the baseless allegations”.

He also points out that the office-bearers of the Korangi Association of Trade & Industry have “categorically denied this misleading and frivolous campaign against the provincial government, which itself speaks about the truth”.

Wahab says the audio clips are “not only malicious, damaging and false but also highly seditious and inflammatory, casting aspersions on the integrity of the Government of Sindh”.

He calls this an “attempt to cause the confidence of the people of the province in their government to wane while the administration keeps working day and night to steer them out of

this novel coronavirus quagmire”.

He says the audio clips have been made to “incite and instigate civil disobedience” against Sindh’s administration. He also says the government has been at the forefront, fighting for the people of the province. He warns that in this time of a pandemic, such “disinformation” will only cause unrest.

He points out that this “propaganda has trivialised the effects, ramifications and consequences of the novel coronavirus”. He says that perhaps the way in which the Sindh government has worked to protect its people has made their opponents uneasy.

Referring to the number of deaths across Pakistan due to COVID-19, Wahab says that “some individuals continue to deny the severity of the situation and keep on inciting people to disobey the directives of the Government of Sindh”.

He says that in such a tumultuous time, it should be the duty of every individual to be honest and upright and to work for the welfare and relief of the people of this nation, rather than underplay the persistent threat.

He also says that “certain individuals are undermining all efforts of the Government of Sindh by spreading this disinformation” and that the audio clips are one of the many ways in which “propaganda and misinformation” against the provincial administration is being spread.

The adviser says that the government not only “vehemently denies” the claims in the audio clips but also “admonishes all those who are doing a great disservice to the people of this country by underplaying the threat of the coronavirus and spreading misinformation”.

He requests the FIA to investigate the audio clips and their origin so that the perpetrators can be taken to task and meted out exemplary punishment in accordance with the law. FIA officials said that after receiving the complaint, an investigation team including forensic and cybercrime officials has been formed to trace the people behind the alleged conspiracy.

‘Vicious tactics’

In his earlier statement, Wahab had said that the allegations against the chief minister and his government in the audio clips were completely baseless and false.

He said the audio clips had nothing to do with the facts and reality. He also said that legal action would be taken against the people responsible for propagating the allegedly fake audio clips.

The spokesman said the people attempting to malign the Sindh administration by creating doubts about the conduct of the provincial authorities during the COVID-19 emergency would not succeed. Such people have always believed in levelling baseless allegations against their political opponents, he added.

He said that the mission of the Sindh government to serve the masses across the province could not be dampened by using such vicious tactics. The masses know the people who are behind such propaganda against the provincial government and who will fail again, he added.

He also said the Sindh government had been making decisions in the best interest of the people of the province since day one of the novel coronavirus crisis. The use of such propaganda should be avoided at such a critical juncture in the pandemic, he added.

The adviser said that action would be taken if any person or association could present proof that bribes had been demanded by the provincial authorities for allowing the reopening of businesses in the city.