Fact-check: Asad Qaiser did not urge Pakistan to allow smuggling with Afghanistan
The video clip being shared on social media has been taken from October 28 session of the National Assembly
Updated Tuesday Nov 12 2024
Online posts falsely claim that Asad Qaiser, former speaker of the National Assembly and a senior opposition leader, has demanded Pakistan allow the smuggling of goods from and into Afghanistan during a speech in the parliament.
Claim
On October 30, a user on X (formerly Twitter) shared a one-minute video of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) leader Asad Qaiser speaking in the National Assembly, captioning it as: “Mr Speaker. In our tribal areas, smuggling [to and from] Afghanistan has been shut down. It should be restored.”
The user alleged that Qaiser blamed the smuggling ban for recent riots and suggested it as a reason for the military’s intervention.
The video and its caption were viewed over 22,000 times, misleading many into believing the claim.
The same text was shared on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Fact
Asad Qaiser did not demand that Pakistan permit smuggling.
The video clip being shared on social media has been spliced from the October 28 session of the National Assembly. Geo Fact Check reviewed the entire one hour proceedings of that day including Qaiser’s speech.
His exact words regarding Afghanistan were:
“Mr Speaker, our area, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), a belt of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, is currently experiencing a shutdown of businesses. Our entire economy relies on trade with Afghanistan as our livelihoods and two meals a day depend on it. Your [government] has halted trade with Afghanistan. Right now there is an illegal economy. To document this economy, you need big projects like economic zones, create opportunities for people. But you do this drama that smuggling is taking place. We do not support smuggling, but legal trade should be opened immediately.”
Nowhere in his speech did Qaiser demand that authorities allow smuggling. Even the online circulated clips do not show him calling for such an action.
View the complete speech at the 15:30 timestamp.
Moreover, even the clips being shared online do not show him calling for the restoration of smuggling.
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