Fact check: Nawaz did not say Khawaja Asif’s London heckling is ‘written in his fate’

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Posts from multiple users on social media platform X on November 14 circulated a clip, claiming that it showed PML-N President Nawaz Sharif remarking that Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s heckling in London was “written in his fate”. However, the viral clip is incomplete and shows the PML-N supremo referring to overseas PTI supporters.

Asif repor­ted to the London police that he faced threats of violence, harassment, and verbal abuse while travelling on a train in the British capital on Nov 11. The Pakistan High Commission confirmed the incident, adding that the London Transport Police was investigating it.

Overseas PTI supporters have been in the news in recent years for publicly heckling and mobbing political figures from opposing parties, particularly in London. Notable incidents include the harassment of PML-N’s Marriyum Aurangzeb in September 2022, Hina Pervaiz Butt in August 2023 and former chief justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa earlier this month.

A PTI supporter made a post on X on Nov 14, sharing an 11-second clip of Nawaz in which he can be heard saying, “The manner in which Khawaja Sahab was treated is written in his fate.”

The post of the caption said, “What happened to Khawaja Asif is written in his fate. Now they are calling their humiliations their fate.”

The post was seen by more than 207,000 people.

The same sentence of Nawaz was shared by digital media outlet Siasat.pk on Nov 14 in a quote share with the caption, “The manner in which Khawaja Sahab was treated is written in his fate.”

The post was seen by over 13,000 people.

The same claim was shared by other users as can be seen here and here, with close to 18,000 and over 8,000 views respectively, that seemingly portrayed the exchange as one of Nawaz belittling the defence minister.

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality, keen public interest in the matter and to satisfy the public’s request seeking authentication for the claim.

The complete media talk of Nawaz from November 13 in London was referred to corroborate what he said.

The PML-N president began his talk with high words of praise and appreciation for the defence minister.

Listening to the complete media talk showed that the viral clip was presented in a misleading manner by sharing an incomplete part of what Nawaz said. The full video showed that he was actually referring to overseas PTI supporters.

The transcript of Nawaz’s comments from the 6:13-minute mark is presented below:

“The way Khawaja sahib was treated yesterday or the day before that, it is written in their fate that you will chase after people and you have nothing else to do except follow cars and chanting slogans while standing at places.

“The training and grooming are the same. It is written in their fate. Thank God that the service of the nation is written in our fate.”

The PML-N president was criticising PTI supporters in London in light of multiple incidents in which they have heckled PML-N leaders in public.

Therefore, the fact-check determined that the claim that Nawaz said the defence minister’s London heckling was “written in his fate” was misleading. The PML-N president was actually referring to and criticising overseas PTI supporters based on past instances where they have publicly mobbed PML-N leaders and political opponents.

This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ and UNDP.