Video of Inqilab Moncho program spread claiming people paid to pose as garment workers

Amid the ongoing garment workers’ protest demanding Tk30,000 minimum wage, a video has been circulating on Facebook with claims that people are being paid to pose as garment workers and create unrest. However, Dismislab’s fact-check found that the video is not from the recent garment workers’ protest. It shows a “March for Insaf” (justice) program held by Inqilab Moncho, a Bangladeshi platform the group itself describes as a cultural and political-pressure movement rather than a political party, in Narayanganj on Oct 26.

The 15-second video was recently posted from a Facebook profile named “MD Zahangir Alam”. It read, “These are not garment workers. I keep saying this again and again, an anti-state group is paying people to pose as garment workers and create unrest. They should be arrested based on the video footage.”

The video shows several women and men gathered beside a road. Some of the women are wearing hijabs and face-covering garments. A man stands beside them, speaking and gesturing forward with his hand. Money is seen changing hands between several of the men and women in the video.

As of this report’s publication, the post had been shared more than 900 times and had received more than 1,500 reactions. The video was also posted with the same claim from several other accounts (1, 2, 3).

To verify the video, several keyframes were used to conduct a reverse image search. This led to a Oct 28 post with the same footage on the Facebook page of Fatima Tasnim Zuma, Inqilab Moncho’s member secretary and secretary for liberation war and democratic movement at the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU). In the post, she wrote, “Countless people are helping make ‘March for Insaf’ a success across the country with their prayers, love and financial support. They may not be able to stay for the entire march, but they are helping make this difficult path easier for us.” The post further read, “Gratitude to these nameless people, from all who seek insaf.”

A further review turned up another post on Fatima Tasnim Zuma’s page, published on Oct 26. It contains several photos of the “March for Insaf” program at Chashara in Narayanganj, organised as part of a three-point demand, including justice for the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi. In the photos, Zuma is seen with her face covered in red-and-white patterned cloth. She appears in the same style of clothing in the video circulated with the false claim. A video of the same program was also found on Inqilab Moncho’s Facebook page.

A search using relevant keywords also turned up a report published by Narayanganj Times on Oct 26. The report, headlined “Inqilab Moncho program in Narayanganj, demands justice for Hadi’s killing,” said Inqilab Moncho held its “March for Insaf” program that afternoon at Chashara in the city. Abdullah Al Jaber, the organization’s convener, and Fatima Tasnim Zuma, its member secretary, both spoke at the program.

Another report published the same day by Bangla Bazar Patrika said the program was held at Chashara at 4pm on Oct 26. 

In other words, the video circulating with claims that people were paid to pose as garment workers and create unrest is actually footage from Inqilab Moncho’s “March for Insaf” program in Narayanganj.

All social media captions, quotations, and news excerpts in this article have been translated into English from the languages in which they were originally posted or published.