Edited photocard falsely claims 200 Jamaat members joined BNP in Gaibandha
A photocard, allegedly from the daily Amar Desh, has recently circulated on social media claiming that 200 members of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami in Gaibandha have joined the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). However, fact-check reveals the photocard is edited. Verification shows that the photo was not taken in Gaibandha, but in Damurhuda upazila of Chuadanga district. Moreover, the individuals in the photo did not join the BNP; rather, they were reported as members of the BNP who had joined Jamaat-e-Islami. The same photo was published by multiple news portals in their reports on the original event.
On Facebook, a user posted a photocard in a group named ‘Tarique Rahman’, which has at least 1,57,000 members. The image shows several people holding flowers in their hands, with a caption below reading, “Two hundred Jamaat-e-Islami leaders and activists join BNP in Gaibandha.”
The caption of the post reads, “Alhamdulillah, Bangladesh Nationalist Party BNP never believes in conspiracy. BNP always believes in the trust of people’s love. InshaAllah, the people of this country will gradually understand everything.” Another user shared the same photocard with identical captions, and the same post was also found in another Facebook group.
A reverse image search of the photo used in the photocard leads to several media reports (1,2,3,4). According to a report by ‘Somoy News’, on 24 October, more than a hundred members of BNP were officially welcomed into Jamaat at a gathering organised by Jamaat-e-Islami at Hauli ground in Damurhuda upazila of Chuadanga district.
The online edition of Amar Desh also published a report on the same event, featuring a photo taken from a slightly different angle at that event. The report stated that on 24 October, 91 members of BNP from Damurhuda upazila in Chuadanga joined Jamaat.
Amar Desh confirmed to Dismislab that the media outlet did not publish any photocard or report claiming that Jamaat members joined the BNP.
In summary, the image showing members of BNP in Damurhuda upazila joining Jamaat-e-Islami was manipulated using the Amar Desh logo to create a fake photocard. The edited card falsely claims that 200 Jamaat-e-Islami members joined the BNP, an assertion that contradicts the original event and is misleading.
