The 12th national parliamentary election in Bangladesh took place on January 07. On this day, a video showing Shakib Al Hasan, a member of the national cricket team and the Awami League candidate for the Magura-1 constituency, was widely shared across social media and various online platforms, including numerous media outlets.
The video spread with claims asserting, ‘On January 7, on election day, Shakib, while visiting a polling center in his constituency, found himself amidst a crowd. Surrounded by fans, he reportedly lost his temper due to the commotion and slapped an individual.’
Check out related news articles on this topic published in various media outlets, including Hindustan Times (India), Geo Super (Pakistan), Geo TV (Pakistan), India Today (India), Times Now (India), Firstpost (India), India TV (India), Deccan Herald (India), Jagran English (India), Zee News (India), NDTV (India), Manab Zamin (Bangladesh), Ekattor TV (Bangladesh), Startup Pakistan (Pakistan), Daily Ausaf (Pakistan), BOL News (Pakistan)
See related Facebook posts here (archive), here (archive), here (archive), and here (archive).
Some X posts related to the same claim here (archive), here (archive), here (archive), and here (archive).
Watch some YouTube videos related to the same claim here (archive), here (archive), here (archive), and here (archive).
Fact Check
An investigation by the Rumor Scanner team has determined that the viral video showing Shakib slapping a fan actually dates back to at least January 03 and is not from the day of the election.
A post by Asif Afnan Piyal, a journalist from the sports-focused online news outlet ‘Allrounder’, initially drew our attention. Piyal’s post (Archive) from January 07 at 5:19 PM indicated that the incident occurred about a week earlier in Faridpur.
Following up on Piyal’s lead, we discovered a video report titled ‘Behind the Scenes of Shakib’s Slapping Incident’ (translated title) on the YouTube channel of the private TV channel ‘Channel24’.
In this report, Channel24’s sports journalist Ariful Islam interviews two journalists who assert they were present at Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s election rally in Faridpur on January 02, which Shakib also attended.
One of the journalists, Parvez Al Hassan from the sports news media Cricfrenzy, commented, ‘I had shown this video to my colleagues a few days back. It is not an incident from today.’
Parvez clarified that the incident took place on January 02 in Faridpur, on the return from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s election rally.
Our observation confirmed that Shakib’s attire in the video matches what he wore on January 02.
For additional verification, we contacted Parvez Al Hassan. Parvez shared, ‘The video was initially shared with me via Messenger on Wednesday, January 03. I then shared it with my colleagues on January 06, and one of them uploaded it to his page as a joke.’
He also shared a screenshot of the video as it appeared in his inbox on January 03, showing it had been forwarded that evening. The message displayed ‘Forwarded many times’, indicating it had been widely circulated on Messenger at that time.
Based on Parvez’s information, we located the same video of Shakib on a Facebook page named ‘Rumky the biggest আইলস্যা’ on January 06 at 12:23 PM (Archive).
As a result, it is clear that the widely shared video of Shakib slapping a fan is not from election day.
Bottom Line
Shakib Al Hasan, the national cricket team’s all-rounder, ran as a candidate for the Awami League in the Magura-1 constituency during the 12th national parliamentary election. On election day, January 07, a video was circulated online with claims that ‘Shakib lost his temper and slapped someone in the crowd on election day.’ Contrary to this claim, the Rumor Scanner team’s investigation has confirmed that the video is not from election day. Evidence was found showing the video was shared on Facebook on January 03. Furthermore, several journalists have identified the video as depicting an incident from Faridpur on January 02, and a correlation was noted with the attire Shakib wore on that day.
So, an old video is being misrepresented as footage of Shakib Al Hasan slapping a fan on election day, which is misleading.
Sources
- Rumor Scanner’s own investigation.
- Channel 24 – সাকিবের থাপ্পড় কান্ডের নেপথ্য সত্য | Sakib Al Hasan | Channel 24
- Statement and evidence from sports journalist Parvez Al Hassan.
- Rumky the biggest আইলস্যা – Facebook post
