Shahbaz Gill, former Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, posted a picture on his X account, which grabbed the attention of X users. According to the post, Pakistan Muslim League N (PML-N) Provisional Minister (MPA) Azma Bukhari said, “Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz came to office only one day by helicopter, the cost of that travel is less than fifty rupees per kilometer.” The claim was widely shared by key Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leaders and supporters mocking Azma Bukhari for her poor estimation.
An Instagram user posted the same statement with the following caption, “I want to buy myself a helicopter now.”
The claim gained traction on social media, particularly on X (formerly Twitter), the claim was shared here, here and here accumulating more than 305K views. On Instagram, the claim was shared here, here and here. On TikTok and YouTube here and here
To verify the claim’s accuracy, we checked the latest press conference by Provisional Minister Meher Bukhari on mainstream media and found an interview. In that interview, Azma Bukhari criticized the statement of former Minister of Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, she said, “ Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry used to say Prime Minister Imran Khan travel via his helicopter, which costs between Rs 50 and Rs 55 per kilometer.”
The viral claim appears to have been shared to mock the estimated cost of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s helicopter travel, as suggested by Fawad Chaudhry, and to undermine the credibility of the PTI leadership, particularly as they have been actively criticizing Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s use of a helicopter for security reasons.
Our fact check confirmed that the claim suggesting Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz used a helicopter for only one day and it costed less than fifty rupees per kilometer is false. The claim was based on a misinterpretation of Azma Bukhari’s criticism of a statement made by a PTI leader.
Rating
Disinformation
+ There are no comments
Add yours