Imran Khan has now deleted the tweet which showed police brutality in Bangladesh
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's tweet to highlight what he called "Indian Police's pogrom against Muslims" backfired as he ended up tagging a seven-year-old video of police brutality from Bangladesh. The tweets were posted as violence unfolded in Nankana Sahib -- a town in Pakistan where Guru Nanak was born -- against the Sikh community and he was asked to intervene by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
The series of tweets that purportedly showed police violence on Muslims were shared from Imran Khan's official twitter handle. The caption on one -- showing uniformed men raining blows on a man -- read, "Indian police's pogrom against Muslims in UP".
Twitter users soon located one of the videos on Youtube, which was titled "[GRAPHIC] Bangladesh police brutality of Hefazat-e-Islam 3", uploaded in 2013.
The Uttar Pradesh Police also responded on Twitter.
As allegations about the Pakistan Prime Minister tweeting fake videos to target India and instigate Indian Muslims began doing the rounds on social media, the tweet was deleted.
The Ministry of External Affairs also slammed Imran Khan for peddling "fake news". "Tweet Fake News. Get Caught. Delete Tweet. Repeat," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted with hashtag ''Old habits die hard''.
Reports from Pakistan suggested that this evening, hundreds of angry Muslim residents of Nankana Sahib targeted the gurdwara. A video shared by Akali Dal MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa showed the mob shouting anti-Sikh slogans outside the building. reports suggested that they later threw stones at the building.
"Appeal to @ImranKhanPTI to immediately intervene to ensure that the devotees stranded in Gurdwara Nankana Sahib are rescued and the historic Gurdwara is saved from the angry mob surrounding it," Amarinder Singh tweeted.
There was no official response from Pakistan.
New Delhi, in a statement, strongly condemned the vandalism at the Gurdwara and violence on the Sikh community.
The attack, the statement read, "followed the forcible abduction and conversion of Jagjit Kaur, the Sikh girl who was kidnapped from her home in the city of Nankana Sahib in August last year".
India demanded that Pakistan government take strong action to ensure the "safety, security, and welfare" of the members of the Sikh community. "In addition, Government of Pakistan is enjoined to take all measures to protect and preserve the sanctity of the holy Nankana Sahib Gurudwara and its surroundings," the statement read.