Old Remark About Pulwama Attack by Imran Khan Falsely Linked To Pahalgam Attack

This video dates back to 2019 when Khan gave his statement against India's attempt to retaliate against Pulwama.

Following the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, a short clip featuring former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan “promising retaliation” if India strikes has gone viral on social media.

Khan's statement: "If you (India) think that you will launch any kind of attack on Pakistan, then we will not think about retaliation, Pakistan will retaliate. Pakistan will have no other option but to retaliate. Then, where does the matter go after that? We all know that starting a war is easy. Starting a war is in the hands of man. But ending a war is not in the hands of man. Where this will go, only Allah knows better."

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false.

• The video dates back to 2019 at the time of the terrorist attack in Pulwama which claimed over forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.

What we found: We conducted a relevant keyword search for, but it did not yield any news articles regarding such a statement. Additionally, Khan has been imprisoned since 2023.

• Further searches, led us to a news report by India TV from February 2019, noting that the viral video was unrelated to the recent Pahalgam attack.

• The frame of the cover image of the story was similar to that of the viral video.

• This statement of Khan's was about the 2019 Pulwama attack which claimed forty lives of CRPF personnel.

• The report noted that Pakistan had denied responsibility of the attack in 2019. It stated Khan assurance about the dip in terrorism.

• It also noted Khan words, "We have no intentions of war but if India will attack, we will definitely retaliate," which is suggested in the viral video.

• The story also carried a post by ANI from 2019 featuring a part of Khan's statement.

Pakistan PM on Pulwama terrorist attack: It is in our interest that nobody from our soil spreads violence. I want to tell Indian govt that we will take action if evidence is found against anyone from Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/QJF79ByVdX

— ANI (@ANI) February 19, 2019

• Further, we found the full version of Khan's statement on Hindustan Times's YouTube channel which was uploaded in 2019.

Conclusion: A 2019 video of former PM Imran Khan of Pakistan "promising retaliation," if India took military action after the Pulwama bombing has falsely been linked as as his remark after the Pahalgam terror attack.

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