Madaripur protest video falsely shared as Dhaka lockdown rally
A video has been circulating on Facebook with the claim that Dhaka is under lockdown. However, a Dismislab fact-check found the claim to be false. The video shows a torch procession organized on August 12 to protest illegal sand extraction in Madaripur.
A 1-hour-33-minute video was posted as a live broadcast from a Facebook profile named “Bijoy Chandra Acharyya.” The post said, “Dhaka lockdown this is just a sample.! No one can suppress us. Joy Bangla Joy Bangabandhu.” The video shows a procession of people carrying torches. Based on the footage, it appears that the first 30 seconds of the video were repeatedly stitched together to create it. Until the publication of this report, the video had been viewed more than 300,000 times and shared 1,400 times.
The video was also found posted on multiple Facebook profiles and pages (1, 2, 3, 4).
Using keyframes from the video for a reverse image search, Dismislab found a video published on August 13 on a Facebook page named “Madaripur Moitri Media Center/Moitri Media.” Its description said, “A torch procession and protest rally were held to protest the illegal extraction of sand using dredgers from various rivers in Madaripur. The procession started from the open stage beside Shakuni Lake in the city. Leaders and activists of Chatra Dal, Chhatra Shibir, Gono Odhikar Parishad, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and members of affected families from various areas took part.” Multiple people in the procession and surrounding scenes in the opening part of this video match those in the video circulating on Facebook.
A video report published on August 12 on the Facebook page of Jamuna TV was also found. Published under the title “Torch procession in Madaripur protesting illegal sand extraction,” the report contains footage from the 52-second mark that matches multiple people at the front of the procession shown in the video circulating on Facebook.
Reports (1, 2, 3) on the incident were published by multiple news outlets. According to these reports, the torch procession was organized from the open stage beside Shakuni Lake in the city to protest the illegal extraction of sand from rivers in Madaripur.
In other words, a video of a torch procession organized to protest illegal sand extraction in Madaripur is being circulated as a scene of Dhaka under lockdown.
It is worth noting that the video was also circulated in August with the claim that it showed a procession in support of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Dismislab published a fact-check report on the claim.
