Former Pakistan Army general Lt Gen (r) Amjad Shoaib, who frequently appears on TV talk shows as a ‘defence analyst’, issued a factually incorrect statement about Naya Daur Media during a show on News One on Saturday.
In response to anchor Shahid Maitla’s question about the government having ignored Foreign Office’s advice against seeking a phone call from US President Biden, he denied such reports and then proceeded to accuse Naya Daur of ‘generating’ a fake news report about Pakistan Army ordering 2,500 new vehicles. He said that in a bid to prove that the Pakistan Army was flouting Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ‘austerity’ rules, it was falsely reported by Naya Daur that 2,500 new vehicles were ordered by the military.
However, no such news report was carried on the Naya Daur website. The former general appeared to be relying on false information and propaganda campaigns run by pro-government accounts on social media.
A recent instance of this propaganda campaign is a fake letter circulated by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-supporting accounts, claiming that it is written by National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and addressed to the US Ambassador to Pakistan. The fake letter claimed that NED supports certain media outlets (including Naya Daur) in Pakistan in an attempt to ‘destabilise’ the government of Pakistan.
The letter is dated 26 October 2021, with a stamp and date of receipt of 29 October 2021.
Twitter accounts, Youtubers and WhatsApp groups have shared that letter as an authentic advice to the US government.
However, the letter was termed fake by NED, with the organisation clarifying that no such letter has been issued. A tweet dated December 1 shared photos of the fake letter claiming that NED has been financing media outlets and opposition politicians to destabilise the current government in Pakistan. The tweet was deleted after NED’s statement terming the letter fake.
