Fact-check: Has Punjab govt provided a signal-jamming vehicle to Maryam Nawaz?

Pakistan’s social media is awash with claims that the interim government in Punjab has recently assigned a signal-jamming vehicle to politician Maryam Nawaz Sharif, even though Sharif has never held a public office and is not entitled to such a security detail.

The claim has been misconstrued online.

Claim

In October, multiple online accounts accused the interim government in Punjab of designating a specially-designed vehicle that blocks signals to Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who is the vice president of the Pakistan Muslim League-N and the daughter of a former prime minister.

“The caretaker government in Punjab has provided a jammer vehicle to Maryam Nawaz,” wrote one user on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, “She has never held a public office in her life yet the Punjab government is providing her full protocol.”

The post has been liked over 900 times and reposted over 500 times, to date.

Similar claims were shared here and here.

Fact

Two officials in Punjab have confirmed that a vehicle, equipped with a signal jamming system, has indeed been deployed with the security detail of Maryam Nawaz Sharif for protection.

However, claims that Sharif could not be allocated such a security protocol since she never held a public office are incorrect, say officials.

A senior official in Punjab’s home department said Sharif was assigned the signal-blocking vehicle in October, after intelligence reports indicated that she faced threats from terrorists while campaigning in Punjab, in the run up to the national polls.

“Our rules are not person specific,” the official told Geo Fact Check over the phone, asking not to be named, “If there are threats to a political figure then they are provided security.”

The official added that the allocation of a signal-jamming vehicle to Sharif is only “temporary” as the seriousness of the threat is assessed after every few days and the security detail can be withdrawn later as well.

Geo Fact Check then reached out to a senior Punjab police official, who also confirmed the same.

The cop, who chose to remain anonymous, replied that the district intelligence committee in Punjab is authorised to allot vehicles mounted with signal jammers to individuals — political or religious — on the basis of threat perception reports, which are compiled by the provincial counter terrorism department and the intelligence agencies.

Furthermore, Geo Fact Check was able to obtain a copy of Punjab’s home department’s security policy in regards to VIPs and VVIPs, which also confirmed what the officials had stated.

While the document deals with the regulation of security to former and current office holders, it also allows the home department to assign a security detail to any person, including political leaders, media persons, businessmen, religious leaders etc facing an urgent security threat from terrorists or sectarian groups.

With additional reporting by Saman Amjad.

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