Crowd for Tarique Rahman in Ctg falsely labeled as Awami League rally
A video was recently circulated on YouTube claiming that a large crowd gathered at a rally of the banned Awami League in Chattogram. However, a fact-check by Dismislab found the claim to be false. The video actually shows thousands of people rushing to Banshkhali Sea Beach in Chattogram on August 9 to see Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
On August 10, a YouTube channel named “Tutul vai 02 Vlogs” posted a 10-second video. Text displayed inside the video reads, “Today’s Awami League rally in Chattogram was packed from end to end.” The video shows large numbers of people running in different directions on the beach. A member of the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) can be seen trying to control them.
One viewer commented on the video, “Alhamdulillah. Many thanks and congratulations to the people of Chattogram. Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu, Inshallah.” As of the publication of this report, the video had been viewed more than 177,000 times, and and garnered nearly 2,000 reactions.
To verify the claim, Dismislab extracted keyframes from the video and conducted a reverse image search. The search led to a video published on the official Facebook page of Kalbela on August 9, 2026. Published under the headline, “Thousands of people run behind prime minister to catch a glimpse of him at Banshkhali seashore,” the video matches the circulated footage in terms of the crowd, an APBn member and the surrounding scene.
A search using relevant keywords found reports about the incident published by multiple media outlets (1, 2, 3). According to these reports, on August 9, 2026, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman arrived by helicopter from Maheshkhali, Cox’s Bazar, at the Baharchhara area of Banshkhali Upazila in southern Chattogram. A report by Ajker Patrika said, “As waves of the sea rose, so too did waves of enthusiasm in the sea of people. A huge number of people gathered there to catch a glimpse of the prime minister.”
Therefore, the claim accompanying the video that it shows an Awami League rally in Chattogram is false. Footage showing people celebrating the arrival of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at Banshkhali Sea Beach has been circulated with a false claim.
