Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Sher Afzal Marwat and Ali Muhammad Khan have pointed fingers at their party’s social media team for initiating a propaganda campaign against former cricket captain Shahid Afridi.
The controversy ignited when an old video of Afridi surfaced on X, formerly Twitter, wherein he discussed the no-confidence motion against then-Prime Minister Imran Khan, the promises made prior to assuming power in 2018, and the performance of his government.
Afridi made these remarks while in London in 2022, raising funds for his charitable organization.
Following the viral circulation of the video, supporters of Imran Khan and the PTI’s social media team began lambasting Afridi.
Marwat Blames PTI Social Media Team for Propaganda Marwat, addressing the issue, squarely blamed PTI’s social media team for the propaganda, urging them to speak positively about Afridi.
“I personally attest that the campaign against Shahid Afridi is baseless and irrelevant,” stated the PTI leader on X on March 23.
“I am aware that Shahid Afridi holds Imran Khan in high esteem, and the propaganda against him appears to be orchestrated by those with personal vendettas against him.”
In his latest tweet, Marwat clarified, “After reviewing Imran Riaz Khan’s v-logs, tweets, and Shahid Afridi’s past statements, I believe he was careless at times.”
“Nevertheless, we must respect each other’s right to express opinions and refrain from unnecessary confrontations,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ali Muhammad Khan asserted that both Imran Khan and Shahid Afridi are national heroes.
“Shahid Afridi has consistently regarded the PTI founder as a hero,” said Ali, noting that any inappropriate statement by Afridi would be his personal opinion.
Mashwani Urges Marwat to Remove His Tweet PTI’s social media activist Azhar Mashwani responded to Marwat’s statements regarding Afridi and the social media team, insisting that he should delete his tweet.
Referring to Marwat’s remarks about countering false propaganda from PTI’s platform, Mashwani emphasized that PTI’s platform promotes Imran Khan’s narrative, not propaganda.
Mashwani told Marwat that if he has any grievances about the party’s internal affairs, there are appropriate forums to address them.
“Almost every day, you [Marwat] issue statements about party leaders or internal party matters, which diverts our social media supporters’ attention from important issues and leads to clashes among different factions,” he added.
‘Imran Khan Was My Idol’: Afridi On the other hand, Afridi, responding to the criticism, expressed the challenge of distinguishing between truth and falsehood.
“A journalist differs from a troll in that the former investigates, while slandering is the easiest thing to do,” remarked the former cricketer.
“I stand by my statement that Imran Khan was my role model, and I ventured into cricket because of him. Neither lies nor propaganda will alter my narrative, which neither serves the PTI nor Imran Khan,” he affirmed, sharing journalist Imran Riaz’s tweet.
