In the wake of a mass student movement demanding reforms in the government job quota system, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned on August 5th and subsequently left the country. Shortly thereafter, rumors began circulating online, claiming that Sheikh Hasina had penned an open letter addressed to the nation. It has been suggested that this letter was sent from Delhi on August 7th, in which Sheikh Hasina allegedly blamed the United States for her removal from power.
Check out some media reports with this claim: The Economic Times (India), The Business Standard (Bangladesh), Saudi Gazette (Saudi Arabia), Agencia EFE (Spain), The Express Tribune (Pakistan), Sri Lanka Guardian (Sri Lanka),
See related Facebook posts here (archive), here (archive) and here (archive).
Fact Check
The Rumor Scanner investigation confirmed that the open letter, allegedly from former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina blaming the U.S. for her removal, is fake. It originated on Facebook, spread through Indian media, and then reached Bangladeshi media.
While investigating the origins of the letter on social media, we discovered that the earliest known post on this topic was made by an individual named Md. Rakib Akon at 4:35 PM on August 5th.
Screenshot: Facebook.
Following this, the letter was also published in the print edition of the daily newspaper ‘Tripura Bhabishyat,’ based in Agartala, India. A screenshot of this print version quickly spread across social media platforms.
Although the newspaper’s management denied to Rumor Scanner that the letter had been printed in their publication, analysis of the surrounding circumstances suggests that it was indeed published in that newspaper.
While there was initially no coverage of this letter in Bangladeshi media, several Indian outlets reported on it yesterday (August 11th), leading to widespread dissemination across nearly all major Bangladeshi media platforms, which cited these Indian sources. The majority of these outlets referenced reports from India’s The Print and The Economic Times. However, neither these two media organizations nor any other Indian outlet has been able to verify the original source of the alleged letter. The Print claimed that Sheikh Hasina had sent this letter or message to Awami League supporters on Saturday, August 10th. However, this alleged message had already been circulating on Facebook five days prior.
Rumor Scanner reached out to the journalists from The Economic Times and The Print for clarification on the source of the letter, but they declined to comment. Additionally, we contacted Sheikh Hasina’s children, Sajeeb Wazed Joy and Saima Wazed Putul, to ascertain the truth. Sajeeb Wazed Joy later confirmed that the letter in question was not written by his mother. He stated, “The recent resignation statement attributed to my mother published in a newspaper is completely false and fabricated. I have just confirmed with her that she did not make any statement either before or since leaving Dhaka.”
In conclusion, the claim that former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued an open letter to the nation is entirely baseless and false.
Sources
- Sajeeb Wazed: X Post
- Rumor Scanner’s own analysis
