(Web Desk) - A misleading video clip spread rapidly on social media after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on December 7, falsely claiming that Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sohail Afridi had said that dogs were dearer to him than his own parents.
The fabricated audio was circulated in response to comments made by the chief of Inter Services Public Relations (DG ISPR).
The claim is entirely false. The audio accompanying the viral clip was digitally inserted and does not reflect Afridi’s actual remarks.
The misleading 29-second video was first posted on X (formerly Twitter) by a user who claimed it showed Afridi speaking during the PTI rally in Peshawar. The post contained a fabricated quote in which Afridi was made to appear as though he endorsed derogatory language used against former prime minister Imran Khan. The video accumulated more than 100,000 views and hundreds of reposts and likes. Copies of the same clip were also shared widely on Facebook and Instagram, gathering more than 320,000 views.
Independent verification proves the video is doctored. At that point, Afridi simply congratulated PTI’s various organisational wings on hosting a successful rally and thanked supporters for the honour given to him due to Imran Khan.
The voice in the viral clip is noticeably different from Afridi’s real voice, further confirming manipulation. Additional review of the full rally footage shows that no PTI leader used language resembling the statements attributed in the altered video.
Afridi’s only reference to the DG ISPR’s press conference was his brief comment that he would not repeat the words used by the DG. He made no inflammatory or insulting remarks of the kind being circulated online.