Fact-check: Notification admonishing officials for skipping rally in support of military is fake
No such notification was issued by the Assistant Commissioner in Layyah or received by officials
Updated Friday Nov 18 2022
Multiple social media users claim that the Assistant Commissioner (AC) office in Layyah, Punjab, had issued a notification to take action against officials who did not participate in a rally to express solidarity with Pakistan’s military.
The notification is forged.
Claim
On November 13, a verified Twitter account of a television anchor, Imran Riaz Khan, tweeted that officials were admonished for not attending a march organized to express support for the military.
Khan attached an alleged notification with his tweet which was sent by the Office of the Assistant Commissioner (AC) in Karor Lal Eson, a city in the Layyah district, to local revenue officials (tehsildar and naib tehsildars) in the area.
The letter, dated November 12, reads that a rally was arranged for expressing solidarity with the Pakistan Army. “You were conveyed from the office telephonically to participate…but you failed to comply which shows negligence and misconduct on your part.”
The AC further grants the officials three days to explain themselves after which disciplinary proceedings will be initiated against them.
Khan’s tweet has to date received over 6,000 retweets and over 13,000 likes.
Fact
The notification is fake.
Dr Mukarram Sultan, the Assistant Commissioner of Tehsil Karor Lal Eson, told Geo Fact Check over the phone that his signature has been forged on a false document. “Someone scanned my signature,” he said, “The letter, which is viral, is fake. We even issued a clarification over the weekend.”
Geo Fact Check then spoke to Muhammad Iqbal, a tehsildar in Karor Lal Eson, to whom the purported notification was issued to. Iqbal said he has not seen or received any such letter at his office.
Geo Fact Check further reached out to Baz Khan, a naib tehsildar, who was also mentioned in the alleged notification. Khan said he was on leave after being infected with the dengue virus. Someone informed him of such a letter circulating on social media, so he immediately returned to work.
“When I came to the office, I was worried but [the office] told me that there was nothing. It is just misinformation,” he said.
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