An old video of Dhaka University spreads with a claim of violence in the JUCSU election

A video has spread on social media claiming that Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing Chhatra Shibir and BNP’s student wing Chhatra Dal clashed after boycotting the Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JUSCU) election. But verification shows the video is old and has no relation to the JUSCU election. In fact, the video is related to a clash that broke out in February this year at Dhaka University’s Madhur Canteen over disputes regarding posts before the announcement of a new student organization under the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.

The 52-second video spread on Facebook shows several people in scuffles and in an agitated state. Most of the people in the crowd were in white and black clothing. The caption of the post reads, “At this moment in Jahangirnagar University, Shibir and Chhatra Dal have clashed after boycotting the vote. Many on both sides have been injured. Golden Bangladesh is on the path of civil war…” . At the time of writing this report, the video had been viewed more than 100,000 times and shared 24 times.

Multiple Facebook profiles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) have been sharing the video with the same claim since the night of September 11.

Analysis of some keyframes of the video shows that the scene is from Dhaka University’s Madhur Canteen. Using the Madhur Canteen reference in a keyword search, Dismislab found a video of a protest in February this year. An identical video of the same length was posted from a Facebook profile on February 26, 2025. The caption of that video read, “Scuffle between two sides centering the announcement of the new Anti-Discrimination Student Movement group…”

Also, a 52-second video posted on February 26 from a Facebook profile named Recent Reviews is an exact match with the recently circulated video. The caption of that post read, “Scuffles continue at Dhaka University’s Madhur Canteen between two groups of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement over the announcement of a new student political organization.” On the same date, the video was also posted from multiple Facebook profiles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) with the same version of the event. The video was also spread from Facebook groups and pages with the same narrative. Besides, the same video was posted from an Instagram profile.

News reports about the February incident were published in multiple media outlets (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). One report published on February 26 this year was titled, “New student organization ‘Democratic Student Union.” The report stated, “A new student organization has been announced. Initiated by former coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, this student organization has been named ‘Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad.’ Abu Bakar Majumder has been made the central convener. Jahid Ahsan has been given the role of the central committee member secretary. The slogan has been set as ‘Education-Unity-Freedom.’

About the clash, the report said, “Eyewitnesses and those involved said that on the occasion of the official announcement of the organization, former coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement gathered at Madhur Canteen in the afternoon. On the other hand, a group of students from private universities protested, demanding sufficient positions in the central committee of the organization. Between the presence of both groups in front of Madhur Canteen, scuffles broke out after 4 pm. At that time, private university students shouted slogans, ‘Break the black hand of DU, crush it, smash it.’”

Therefore, the recently circulated video has no relation to the Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JUCSU) election.

The Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JUCSU) election was held on September 11 Citing allegations of irregularities in voting, Chhatra Dal announced a boycott. In the JUCSU and hall elections at Jahangirnagar University, voting was conducted in a peaceful environment on Thursday, but there were complaints of mismanagement. In some halls, voting had to continue even after the evening. Five panels participating in the election boycotted the vote.

Disclaimer: The original version of this report was published in Bengali on Dismislab’s Bengali website on September 12, 2025. The English translation was completed later; however, to maintain time accuracy and avoid any potential misinterpretation, the English version has been published with the original publication date.