When Pakistani Movie Star 'Fact-Checked' Tarek Fatah's False Narrative Tweet

Controversial Pakistani-Canadian journalist and author Tarek Fatah stoked a fresh row on Twitter recently. In a tweet on January 14, Fatah shared a video claiming to be from Pakistan that showed poor conditions of polio workers in the country. “Pakistani mother slams the door shut in the face of Polio workers. Screams at the two female volunteers. I will never ever allow my children to take these drops. Never never will my kids drink these drops. Never (sic)," Fatah tweeted along with a clip showing the said incident. Fateh’s tweet gained major traction within minutes of posting. He has 610.9K followers on the micro-blogging site.

Thank u for giving ur 2 cents on this but pls first verify the source b4 posting next time. It’s a scene frm my movie”loadwedding”,the polio worker is me & that woman an actress.Through the film we were raising awareness of the issue.Glad 2 see our performances were so convincing https://t.co/ididoJJcxL

— Mehwish Hayat TI (@MehwishHayat) January 15, 2020

But what went awry for the author was when a Pakistani movie star noticed the tweet and fact-checked it in most savage way. A day later on January 15, Actress Mehwish Hayat quoted Fateh’s tweet and replied: “Thank u for giving ur 2 cents on this but pls first verify the source b4 posting next time. It’s a scene frm my movie”loadwedding”,the polio worker is me & that woman an actress.Through the film we were raising awareness of the issue.Glad 2 see our performances were so convincing (sic),” Hayat said on Twitter. Embarrassed, Tarak Fateh was forced to delete his tweet. As of now, Hayat’s tweet has got 21.4K Likes and 7.1K.

The Twitter spat between the author and the actor took new turn when Tarek Fatah brought New York Times report into the picture. Tagging Hayat, Fatah said, “Hi @MehwishHayat, just wondering if this @NYTimes report too is false as its based on the film that featured you. "Pakistan’s War on Polio Falters Amid Attacks on Health Workers and Mistrust.”

To this, Hayat replied, “Never denied this is not a problem. My job as an actress is to raise awareness of these issues and educate people. That is what our film did. Glad to say that we have already immunised 35m of the 37m target, rest will be done soon as well InshaAllah . Thank you for your concern !”

Never denied this is not a problem. My job as an actress is to raise awareness of these issues and educate people. That is what our film did. Glad to say that we have already immunised 35m of the 37m target, rest will be done soon as well InshaAllah . Thank you for your concern ! https://t.co/M0B4FRsqG3

— Mehwish Hayat TI (@MehwishHayat) January 16, 2020

Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio has not been eradicated. In April last year, the campaign to vaccinate more than 40 million children under five against polio in Pakistan was suspended in teh wake of attacks on workers and police over the past week.