Shahid Afridi did not support the government’s fuel hike; viral clip is unrelated

Several users, most of whom appear to be PTI supporters, have since Thursday shared a video on several social media platforms claiming it shows former cricketer Shahid Afridi calling for unconditional support to the government following the recent hike in fuel prices. But the video precedes the price increase and is part of the government’s savings campaign.

A day ago, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik announced the government’s decision to hike petrol prices to Rs458.4 per liter and high-speed diesel to Rs520.35 per litre. The hike was announced at a press conference held by Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.

Soon after the announcement, the power ministry also announced the new prices, where the price of petrol was hiked by Rs 137.24. per liter and the diesel price by Rs.184.49.

On Thursday, a user who appears to be a PTI supporter based on his earlier posts shared a video of Afridi on X with the following caption: “Pakistanis, look!! To rub salt in your wounds, Lala has been brought into the field. Egg Afridi says petrol prices have been hiked, support govt.”

The post received 182,000 views.

The transcript of the video reads: “Peace be with you friends. I am Shahid Afridi. Because of the war, the global energy crisis is ahead of us. Pakistan is still, Alhamdulillah, much better than many other countries. Supporting the government is the most important thing. As Pakistanis, we should try to follow the steps taken by the government so that there is no hindrance for this country.”

Journalist Tariq Mateen shared the same video in the same context with the following caption: “A person devoid of shame.”

The post received 180,000 views.

YouTuber and former anchor Imran Riaz Khan also reshared the thumbs up video and got 57,000 views.

PTI politician and former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Qasim Khan Surishared the video in a similar context on Instagram with the caption: “This shameless person isn’t even ashamed to lie!”

Indian media India today also shared the same claim in a news article today titled: “As fuel prices rise, Shahid Afridi urges Pakistanis to support government, appeals for calm”.

An Indian propaganda account, based on its earlier post, also shared the same video in a similar context on X with the following caption: “Afridi supports high petrol price.”

The post received 19,000 views.

The same video in a similar context was shared by several users who appeared to be PTI supporters Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here; together get more than 300,000 views.

Methodology

A fact check was launched to establish the truth of the claim due to its virality and great public concern over the drastic price increase.

A reverse image search was performed, yielding an X post dated April 1, 2026, where the same video was shared by a user who appears to be a PML-N supporter.

“Pakistani sportspersons are raising strong awareness of responsible fuel consumption as an effective way to guide the public in tough times. After massive subsidies, conservation is now everyone’s responsibility. Kudos to Attaullah Tarar,” the caption reads.

As can be seen, the video goes before the announcement of the fuel price increase.

The video ends with an official logo from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting promoting fuel conservation as a national responsibility.

It should be noted that in March, Pakistan launched a national conservation campaign to deal with a severe energy crisis and reduce fuel consumption. Key measures, driven by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, include a 50-70% reduction in the use of public vehicles, a four-day work week with 50-80% of staff working from home, and restrictions on official events and foreign travel.

A keyword search returned the same video shared on social media Experience Pakistan on Facebook with the following caption: “Middle East tensions rise: Pakistan launches fuel saving campaign – Shahid Afridi calls for public support”.

A hashtag “Pakistan campaign” was also mentioned in the caption.

Express Pakinomist‘s lifestyle magazine, Pakinomist Editshared a collage of screenshots of videos that included the viral video of Afridi on April 2, 2026.

The headline of the post reads: “Amid rising national tensions caused by rising oil prices due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, several prominent Pakistani celebrities have come forward to promote fuel conservation through televised messages.”

More similar videos of other Pakistani celebrities such as Punjabi folk songs Arif Loharactress Bushra Ansarisinger Waris Baig and several others in the same frame, ending with the same official graphic from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan, for the savings campaign, were found to be shared by Instagram accounts.

A similar post for savings campaign was also shared by PML-N’s official Facebook account, proving that Afridi’s viral video was part of a government’s austerity campaign amid a fuel crisis caused by rising oil prices due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The investigation produced another post on Afridi’s official X account today, where he himself addressed the matter.

“Some malicious elements are trying to create a false impression by sharing my old video where I defended the hike in petrol prices.

“The fact is that this video was made before the latest increase. It was simply an informational video about energy conservation and reduced consumption, which was prepared at the behest of the Ministry of Information, Atta Tarar. The latest increase in prices will break the back of the already broken public, which cannot be defended,” he said.

“For friends of low intellect and little knowledge: explanation – twisting this message for nefarious political purposes and trying to mislead the public like this is shameful,” Afridi added.

Fact Check Status: Misleading

Therefore, the claim that a viral video shows Shahid Afridi calling for unconditional support to the government after the rise in fuel prices is misleading. The video comes ahead of the recent rise in fuel prices and the message is part of a savings campaign with other celebrities promoting fuel saving measures.

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This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan – a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.