An Aaj Tak report from January 6 claimed that a Pakistani member of parliament drew widespread flak after a video of him dancing to the Bollywood track ‘Tip Tip Barsa Paani’ surfaced. The report states, “A video of Pakistan National Assembly member and TV host Aamir Liaquat Hussain is viral on social media. In the clip, he is seen dancing to the Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif-Akshay Kumar Bollywood song ‘Tip Tip Barsa Pani’.”
Hussain is a member of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf.
ANI, Navbharat Times, Hindustan, Zee News UP-Uttarakhand, News24, Punjab Kesari, Navodaya Times, Zee Salaam, Lokmat published similar reports amplifying the claim.
The majority of these reports, barring ANI, are based on a tweet by Aman Malik.
Pakistan member of parliament, ladies and gentlemen https://t.co/9XJPalb8zL
— Aman Malik (@PatrakaarPopat) January 6, 2022
Fact-check
One Twitter user replied to a person who had shared the video. The user stated that the man in the video is not Hussain but dancer and choreographer Shoaib Shakoor.
His name is Shoaib and he’s a choreographer, in case any one wants to hire him for their wedding
— Safia • صفیہ • सफीयह (@_safiamahmood) January 6, 2022
Shakoor had posted the same video on his Instagram handle three days prior on January 4.
View this post on Instagram
A Facebook page named HS Studio Pakistan posted several videos from the same occasion, including the one in question. Shakoor has been tagged here and the title is ‘Shoaib Shakoor on Tip tip’.
To sum it up, a video was falsely circulated on Indian social media as a Pakistani politician dancing to a Bollywood song. Several prominent media outlets amplified the claim without verifying it first. Aaj Tak later updated its report, but the archived version can be accessed here. It is worth noting that even in the updated story, Aaj Tak did not acknowledge the error.
Independent journalism that speaks truth to power and is free of corporate and political control is possible only when people start contributing towards the same. Please consider donating towards this endeavour to fight fake news and misinformation.
