Aurat March has been subjected to online propaganda. A number of doctored videos and images have been doing the rounds on social media framing the Aurat Marchers as blasphemers, over 200 journalists and activists have said in a statement. “We strongly condemn the deliberate, irresponsible, and malicious circulation of falsely captioned videos and media from the Aurat Marches.”, they said. The doctored content shared by mainstream journalists such as Ansar Abbasi and Orya Maqbool Jan, as well several politicians without verification, they added. There was no blasphemous content on banners and the banner being pointed out was written with the testimony of female victim who was molested by a 50-year-old Qari when she was nine years old. The banner had nothing to do with any religious figure and nor did the women did not chant any blasphemous slogans. The third allegation is of the religious words being used while they clarified that the words were ‘Mullah’, ‘Fazloo’ (Fazlur Rehman), ‘Ansar’ (Abbasi) and Orya (Maqbool Jan). Fake subtitles were added to the video of the slogans to make them sound blasphemous. Aurat March Karachi has shared the full list of slogans in the video being circulated as blasphemous.
Here’s is the original slogan, here is our real voice
The Aurat March faces severe backlash every year. Our videos & posters are targeted & manipulated, spreading misinformation to malign the March.#AuratMarch2021#PatriarchykaPandemic#StopSpreadingFakeNews pic.twitter.com/piowxqMUEK
— Aurat March – عورت مارچ (@AuratMarchKHI) March 11, 2021
Due to malicious propaganda against Aurat March, banned terror group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan on Friday issued threats to the organisers of the march, accusing them of ‘spreading obscenity and vulgarity’ in Pakistan.
TTP has issued a threat to #AuratMarch participants and not a word of condemnation against the butchers of APS will be uttered by our true patriots Orya, Ansar & MAK for this threat. And very rich of TTP to care about "sentiments of Pakistani nation". 2 takay ke bharay ke ghunday pic.twitter.com/4I3CGTPxUm
— M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) March 13, 2021