JournalismPakistan.com
November 03, 2018

ISLAMABAD - ARY News Television anchor Iqrar ul Hasan has cast doubt over a video of a mob running off with bananas from a donkey-drawn cart of a young vendor in Sheikhupura.

The video went viral on Friday as almost everybody on social media condemned the incident and questioned the protesters’ tactics.

However, a video posted by Iqrar presents a different story. The boy says an individual bought all the bananas on his cart for Rs3500 and started distributing them for free.

The man who bought the bananas says in the video he wanted to distribute rice for free among the poor but then decided to buy the whole lot of bananas. “First I distributed the bananas myself, but when the number of people increased I told them to help yourself.”

Overall the video appears to be an effort to present protesters as a peaceful crowd.

In his Urdu tweet, Iqrar says he is presenting the other side of the banana story. “I have seen miscreants during protests steal bottles, burgers, chairs, and ACs. But present this side of the story was also my journalistic duty. Decide for yourself.”

However, other Twitter uses asked if the intent was to distribute bananas for free, why the boy tries to run away. Others say they never expected Iqrar to be so irresponsible.

Iqrar repeatedly tweets to say there are a lot of questions regarding the episode, and all he did was to present the other side of the banana story.