False social media claim used in U.S. State Department press briefing question
During a routine press briefing at the U.S. State Department on March 19, a Bangladeshi journalist posed a question while presenting an old photo as if it were recent. The photo had previously been circulated on social media with the same claim.
Journalist Dastagir Jahangir presented a photo while discussing the rising threat of Islamic extremism in Bangladesh and the push for an Islamic caliphate. He claimed that the photo depicted a large pro-caliphate rally that took place at Dhaka University on March 18. However, verification revealed that the scene was actually from an old video of a procession that took place on August 6, 2024. The event occurred on August 5, during a period when Bangladesh had no government following the fall of the Awami League administration.
The press briefing was uploaded on the official U.S. State Department YouTube channel on March 20. In the video, Dastagir Jahangir, the editor of U.S.-based news outlet TheVoice.News, begins speaking at 50 minutes and 20 seconds. According to information shared on the Facebook page of another news outlet, Press Express, he also serves as the bureau chief for this organization in the U.S.
He questioned U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce, saying, “U.S. intelligence chief, Ms. Tulsi Gabbard, has warned about Bangladesh, the growing threat of Islamist extremism and effort to establish an Islamic caliphate. While she didn’t directly accuse the interim government of – led by Muhammad Yunus, but Muhammad Yunus has vehemently denied these concern, calling them untrue. However, just yesterday, a large pro-caliphate rally took place in Dhaka University.”
While making his statement, he held up a photo showing a rally in front of the Curzon Hall at Dhaka University, with a placard bearing Arabic text. He shared a screenshot of the moment when the photo was shown during the press briefing on his Facebook account, writing, “Here is the current image of the country in my hands at the U.S. State Department.” Additionally, a footage during the questioning time was published with an online report on TheVoice.News website.
The image, identified through reverse image search, is sourced from a video that has been circulating on Facebook (1, 2) and X (1, 2) since March 18, with claims that it was taken during the interim government. The video depicts a rally with a Hizb ut-Tahrir banner leaving the Curzon Hall area at Dhaka University, accompanied by various slogans. Former Awami League MP Mohammad A. Arafat has shared the video on his X profile with the same claim, and it has garnered over 9,000 views so far.
An online search using keyframes to trace the original source of the video leads to a Facebook profile and page where the video was shared. The video matches both the recent viral post and the image displayed during the state department press briefing. A detailed analysis reveals that both videos were shared on August 6, 2024. The description accompanying the video reads, “Hizbut Tahri procession from Curzon Hall. What is needed at this time is the caliphate government.”
That is, the image shown by Dastagir is not from March 18 or recent times, as claimed in various social media posts. Rather, the rally took place on August 6, the day after the fall of the Awami League government last year. On the evening of August 8, Dr. Yunus’ government took power and before that, for three days Bangladesh was essentially without a government, and the video from that time is being falsely claimed to be from the recent day.
