As deadly protests against soaring living costs rock Pakistan-administered Kashmir, a video has surfaced on social media posts falsely linking it to the riots. The footage, which shows crowds chanting in the street, has actually been circulating online since at least August 2022 in posts about rallies against government plans for further transfer of power to Islamabad.
An Urdu post on Facebook that shared the video on May 11, 2024, said: “Now we have to see this. It’s unfortunate. Pakistanis heard these slogans for the first time and trembled. Azad ( Free Kashmir” was written on it.
The video, which has been viewed more than 3,000 times, shows a crowd of protesters chanting and waving flags representing Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and a group of soldiers looking on.
“What do we want? We want freedom! We get freedom from Pakistan! We get freedom from India!” they cry.
The video was spread with similar posts on Facebook here, here and here and on social media site X here and here. and here.
Four people were killed in protests in Pakistan-administered Kashmir against the soaring cost of living, which ended on May 14 after organizers accepted the government’s offer of financial aid.
The Himalayan region is divided between India and Pakistan, with both countries claiming full ownership.
However, the video was actually filmed several years before the protests erupted.
old protests
Keyword searches on Facebook and X found similar footage in August 2022 posts about protests against plans to give Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, greater control over the region.
same scene You can watch the Facebook video from August 12, 2022 at the 14-second mark (archive link).
The Facebook post in Urdu reads “Azad Kashmir”.
“A complete wheel jam strike has ensued in Azad Kashmir. People of Muzaffarabad are chanting freedom slogans in front of Pakistani troops.”
Muzaffarabad is the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
The following is Screenshot comparison A video shared in a false post (left) and a video from 2022 (right). AFP fixed a rotation that caused the video to be flipped upside down.
An AFP photographer in Muzaffarabad confirmed the location of the protest: plate load.
A similar video was posted on X The post on August 12, 2022 contained the scene This appears to begin where the incorrectly posted video ends (archived links).
The post in Urdu read: “Strikes and protests are taking place across Azad Kashmir. Protests in Muzaffarabad did not give way to Pakistani military vehicles. Slogans against the 15th Amendment were raised. It was written.
india news outlet Times Now and News 18 covered the protests at the time (archived link) here and here).
Times Now reported that the protesters were opposing constitutional amendments that would transfer financial and administrative powers of provincial governments to Islamabad.
Frame of mistakenly shared video showing Pakistani military vehicles featured in Indian news channel TV9 Bharatvarsh’s report on protests on August 16, 2022 (archive link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of a frame from the accidentally shared video (left) and the same frame from TV9 Bharatvarsh’s report (right).
The report in Hindi is titled “Protesters in Muzaffarabad once again demand independence from Pakistan.”
As the image appears, the anchor says, “Protests against Pakistan have gotten out of control and Pakistani troops have been deployed on the streets of PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir).”
