In a failed bid to humiliate India, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday tweeted a video that purported to show police brutality in Uttar Pradesh against Muslims, calling it a pogrom against Muslims staged by the UP police. The clip turned out to be a seven-year-old video from Bangladesh.
The video showed men in police uniforms beating people who are lying on the ground. While Khan shared it saying it was from Uttar Pradesh, the video is available on YouTube and shows the Bangladeshi police attacking members of the Hefazat-e-Islam outfit, which faced a violent response from police in 2013 during the Shapla Square protests.
After being called out by multiple handles on Twitter, Khan deleted the tweet. Among those who pointed out his error was the Uttar Pradesh police twitter account. "This is not from U.P, but from a May, 2013 incident in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The RAB(Rapid Action Battalion) written on the vests at 0:21s, 1:27s or the Bengali spoken, or these links would help you be better informed..." the UP police tweeted.
After deleting the tweet, Khan went on to share news articles about India and the police action taken in Uttar Pradesh in response to the anti-CAA protests, alleging that Muslims are being targeted in India
Khan made no mention of the incident that took place at the Nankara Sahib Gurudwara in Pakistan, which was desecrated and attacked by an angry mob on Friday, who pelted stones at it while there were several Sikh devotes inside.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has called on Khan to intervene, while the Ministry of External Affairs has issued a strong statement condemning the vandalism at the site.
