Stage-managed

Conspiracy theorists believe the assassination attempt at senior journalist Hamid Mir was a staged ‘drama’. They say the intention of the attackers was to injure, and not kill Hamid. Others claim Hamid was not attacked at all. Some believe that it was the work of terrorists or extortionists.

 It was just a ‘message’

Conspiracy theories about the armed attack on Raza Rumi question his survival under the hail of bullets fired at him, implying the aim of the attack was not to kill him but send a message. Others believe the attack was engineered by the victim himself in order to gain sympathy.

Population vaccination

The most popular conspiracy theory about polio vaccine is that it is un-Islamic and a conspiracy of America and the Western world to contain the birth rate of the Muslims.  Some religious clerics claim the vaccine is made from substances derived from pigs, or that they cause infertility. Educated people are heard talking about a Bill Gates TED talk where he links polio vaccination with population control in order to save earth’s resources.

Fake attack

Some people believe the shooting on Malala Yusufzai was staged by the CIA in order to provide an excuse for continuing drone attacks. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan accused Malala of being an American spy. There is also a picture of Malala in which she is shown with deceased US envoy, Richard Halbrooke. Conspiracy theorists claim it was a meeting with agents from the CIA. That picture was taken in Islamabad when Malala was awarded with National Peace Award and many foreign diplomats and other officials, including Richard Halbrooke, were present. Interestingly, the narrative change began a few days after the attack.

Osama is still alive

Many people in Pakistan still believe that Osama bin Laden was not present in the building which was targeted by the US forces. Thus, he was not killed. Various conspiracy theories say Osama has been dead for years. Others hold he is still alive. Some even suspect he might be put behind bars in the US at some undisclosed location.

Not a Pakistani

It is believed by some that Ajmal Kasab was not hanged by the Indian authorities but he died of dengue. They question why the government of India did not wait for his recovery from dengue?

According to one such theory, Kasab was not a Pakistani, nor was he trained in Pakistan to carry out terrorist acts in India. The theory says his accomplices were the creation of Indian intelligence agencies. He had no Islamic inclinations. He was even heard by some people asking bhagwan for mercy. All the characters of the Mumbai attack were stage-managed and so were the court proceedings that went on for years.

No 9/11 happened

Conspiracy theory says collapse of the Twin Towers and World Trade Centre were the result of a controlled demolition rather than structural failure due to impact and fire. Another theory says the US and the Jewish lobby were behind the 9/11 episode and the Pentagon was hit by a missile launched by elements from inside the US government or that a commercial airliner was allowed to do so by the American military. Motives behind these acts claimed by conspiracy theorists include: justifying the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq as well as ‘interests’ in the Middle East, such as pipeline plans launched in the early 1990s by oil companies.

Salt myths

The TV advertisements promoting the consumption of iodised salt were meant to contain the population of Pakistanis, especially Muslims.