Video of men uprooting trees over land dispute in Pakistan viral with anti-Muslim angle – Alt News

Several Facebook and Twitter users have shared a one-minute video that shows men uprooting plants from a field. The viral text associated with the video reads, Tree plantation drive was started by Pak PM Imran Khan. Look how namazi people oppose it becuase its un!slam!c. Planting tree is against the faith.

Right-wing author Renee Lynn claimed that Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan copying his Indian counterpart started a tree plantation drive but locals uprooted the trees because they consider it against Islam. The video gained close to 10,000 retweets and 4 lakh views as of this writing. (archived link)

Other Twitter users who shared the viral video include Major Surendra Poonia and Norwegian diplomat Erik Solheim. Poonias tweet gained over 8,000 retweets.

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Pakistani Canadian author Tarek Fatah wrote in foul language that jihads uprooted saplings to practice killing infidel kaafirs.

IPS officer Dipanshu Kabra quote-tweeted Solheim and wrote, Even God cant bless a nation where extremist thinks, Tree Plantation is Anti-Islam All religions preach that We the people of Earth, must respect & protect all living beings and embrace our relationship with the environment. Our deepest sympathies with @ImranKhanPTI. Kabra later deleted his tweet.

Ravinder Sangwan posted the viral video on Facebook with the same narrative. It gained over 6,700 shares.

Alt News performed a keyword search plantation Pakistan uproots trees and found an August 9 report by The News, a Pakistan-based website. The article includes a video of a news bulletin that shows the viral video. The outlet also tweeted the article.

As per the report, the chaotic incident took place at the Mandi Kas area in Khyber Agency in Pakistan. Newly-planted trees were uprooted by locals over alleged forceful plantation on private land. The tree plantation drive was an initiative by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf member Iqbal Afridi as a part of Pakistans 10 Billion Tree Tsunami, a nationwide plantation drive.

On August 9, PM Khan had organised the biggest plantation drive in the country with the goal to plant at least 35 lakh trees.

Afridi admitted that the plantation campaign in Mandi Kas had been carried out on private property. He told The News, The locals were angry over the unauthorised tree plantation campaign. Were trying to have negotiations with them.

Speaking to Dawn, a district administration official said that there was a dispute between two powerful tribes over the ownership of the land. One of the parties was present when the campaign was inaugurated, while the other was unaware about the drive and uprooted the saplings, he said.

Riaz Ghafur, a former faculty member at Edwardes College Peshwar, had tweeted the viral video condemning the incident. He subsequently shared another video where people can be seen planting trees. Ghafur told Alt News that the elders of the tribe which did not oppose the plantation drive later planted trees on the same land.

Thus, social media claim that people in Pakistan opposed a tree plantation campaign because it is unIslamic to plant trees is ridiculous and false.

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Video of men uprooting trees over land dispute in Pakistan viral with anti-Muslim angle - Alt News

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