Fact check: Viral video does not show Bangladeshis expressing support for Pakistan amid protests
Multiple Indian users were sharing a video on social media platform X on August 8, 2024, claiming that it showed Bangladeshi protesters saying they wanted to go to Pakistan during a rally. However, the video showed no such thing.
Bangladesh has started to recover from violent student-led protests that led to the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Though an interim government has taken office, there is still resentment towards Hasina’s Awami League party.
Hasina, 76, had been in power since 2009 but faced accusations of rigging the January elections and widespread protests demanding her resignation. Over 400 people died in the unrest.
On Thursday, a mob allegedly beat Awami League supporters when they tried to pay tribute to Bangladeshi founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at his residence in Dhaka.
Reports emerged from India accusing the Pakistan intelligence agencies of their alleged involvement in the collapse of Bangladesh’s government. The Foreign Office (FO) rejected all speculation in India about Pakistan being involved in the ouster, terming it New Delhi’s “disturbing obsession” with Islamabad.
A video was circulated on X last Thursday, claiming that it showed Bangladeshis raising slogans in support of Pakistan amid recent protests. However, the protesters were actually demanding that former premier Khaleda Zia go to Pakistan.
Bangladesh released Zia, the chair of the main opposition party, from house arrest on August 6. Zia, 78, a two-time former prime minister, was convicted of corruption in 2018 and sentenced to 17 years in prison.
The video was shared by an account called ‘Trunicle’, showing protesters chanting. The caption reads “‘Pakistan is in our Blood and we want to go Pakistan.’ chant Bangladeshi Muslims”. As of August 9, the video received 624,800 views and was reposted 2,848 times.
Translating the chants from Bangla shows a clear discrepancy between the caption of the video and its contents. The people in the video were chanting: “Pakistan Er Khaldea, Pakistan E Chole Ja”, which actually translates into “Pakistan’s Khaleda Zia, go back to Pakistan.”
The claims have been proven false as the slogans being raised in the video did not correspond to what was being claimed in the viral posts about it circulating online.
This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ and UNDP.