Indian media outlets reported a fake letter, claiming Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was hospitalised following Pahalgam, to be treated for hemorrhoids.
BOOM found that letter is false with incorrect designations and does not read like an official letter from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
Outlets including Times Now, Republic TV, NewsX, News24 Hindi, and News18 Bangla carried the misreporting, claiming the letter, a leaked document from the hospital, was a confirmation of Pakistani Prime Minister undergoing treatment for hemorrhoids at the Army Hospital, Rawalpindi
The letter which is also viral on X and Facebook with the same fake claim, is dated April 27, 2025 and carries the logo of the Pakistan PMO with the subject line 'Confidential - Hospitalization of the Honourable Prime Minister at CMH Rawalpindi.'
It further states that the, 'Honourable Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic Of Pakistan was admitted...for medical evaluation and treatment related to a case of hemorrhoids...' The letter emphasises that the prime minister's condition remains stable and is signed by a Asad Rehman Gilani, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral document is fake and that no such official letter was issued by the PMO, Pakistan.
We first ran a search for verified reports in Pakistani media outlets for news on Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif hospitalised anytime in April 2025. We found no media reporting in international or Pakistani outlets verifying the same.
We then ran a search for Asad Rehman Gilani, named as principal secretary to the PMO and whose signature is visible on the letter and found that he was removed from the post on March 17, 2025.
A March 18, 2025 report published in the Pakistani news Dawn says that Gilani was transfered to the National Heritage and Culture Division as secretary and the post of the Prinicipal Secretary to the PM has since been abolished. According to the Dawn reporter PM Sharif's newly appointed adviser, Dr. Tauqir Shah, who holds the status of a federal minister, will serve in that capacity instead.
BOOM then reached out to Pakistan based fact checker Geo Fact Check, who shared with us a letter dated March 17, 2025, confirming Gilani's transfer from the PMO. Geo Fact Check also reached out to Pakistan’s Minister of State for Interior, Talal Chaudhry who confirmed that the viral letter was fake.
This letter can be seen below:
Picture credit: Geo Fact Check
We also found a fact check by Dawn dated April 29, 2025, which quoted a source at the Pakistan PMO, rubbishing the claim and calling the letter fake.
We then looked for any reports showing recent public appearances made by Pakistani PM Sharif and found that on from April 27, 2025, Sharif and other senior Pakistani government officials met with a delegation of the American World Liberty Financial in Islamabad.
The viral letter is dated April 27, 2025 and claims Sharif was hospitalised on that date. We further found news reports from May 1, 2025 about PM Sharif meeting with Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zedong to strengthen diplomatic ties between the two nations.