Recently, a Facebook post by Hasnat Abdullah, the chief organizer of the National Citizen Party (NCP) in the southern region, claimed that a “Refined Awami League” plan was presented from the cantonment. This post sparked intense discussions within Bangladesh’s political sphere.
Amid this, an account named ‘Nabila Jamal’ operating from India shared a video (link) claiming that the Ninth Infantry Division of the Bangladesh Army was advancing toward Dhaka due to concerns over a potential coup against Muhammad Yunus’s interim government.
Additionally, an account named ‘Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury’ on X shared the video (link), asserting that after an alleged propaganda campaign led by so-called student leaders of Muhammad Yunus against Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman and the Bangladesh Army, members of the armed forces were attacked last night. The post further claimed that after the police, Yunus now aims to destroy the army.
Moreover, the video was circulated online with claims of chants of ‘Fake, Fake’ directed at the army and alleged clashes between students and military personnel.
Watch the Facebook-circulated video at the following links: Here (Archive), Here (Archive), Here (Archive), Here (Archive), Here (Archive)
Fact Check
According to the investigation by the Rumor Scanner team, the circulated video is not from recent days or this month. In reality, on February 5, during the ‘Bulldozer March’ program in the Dhanmondi-32 area, students and the public entered house number 32 and carried out acts of vandalism. Later, when the army arrived at the scene, the students and public began chanting “fake, fake” slogans. A video from that time is now being circulated with misleading claims.
A separate video of the same event was found on the YouTube channel of the national daily ‘Protidiner Bangladesh,’ published on February 5, under the title “Students expel the army from No. 32 with ‘Fake, Fake’ slogans | Dhanmondi 32 | PB“. A frame from this video matches a frame from the widely circulated misleading video.
See more of the same video uploaded during that time here: 1, 2, 3
Later, from a report titled “Army at Dhanmondi-32, ‘Fake Fake’ Slogans by Agitated Students and Public” published on February 5 on the website of the online news outlet The Daily Campus, it is known that extreme tension arose in the Dhanmondi-32 area centering around the virtual session of ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. As part of the announced ‘Bulldozer March’ program, students and the public started gathering there from the evening of today, Wednesday (February 5). Around 8 PM, the agitated crowd entered House No. 32 and carried out vandalism. In such a situation, when army personnel arrived around 9 PM, the agitated students and public began chanting “Fake, fake” slogans.
A report published on Ekushey Television’s website confirmed the same information.
Conclusion
The incident of vandalism by students and the public at Dhanmondi-32 last February, and the chanting of “fake, fake” slogans when the army arrived at the scene, has recently been circulated with the claim that the 9th Infantry Division of the army is advancing toward Dhaka — which is misleading.
Sources
- Protidiner Bangladesh: “Students expel the army from No. 32 with ‘Fake, Fake’ slogans | Dhanmondi 32 | PB“
- Publician Alliance: Facebook Post
- Md. Mahabub Rahman: Facebook Post
- Sufia Akter: Facebook Post
- The Daily Campus: “Military at Dhanmondi-32, ‘Fake, Fake’ slogans from enraged students“
- Ekushey Television: “Military inside No. 32, students chanting ‘Fake, Fake’
