Claims that Kazi Ibrahim called himself the “real” proclaimer of Bangladesh independence is misleading
A claim circulating across several media outlets and social‑media platforms alleges that Islamic speaker Mufti Kazi Mohammad Ibrahim declared himself the “true” proclaimer of Bangladesh’s independence in 1971. But a Dismislab fact‑check found the claim to be misleading. In the original video, Ibrahim was referring to 2021, not 1971. The widely shared clip is an edited portion of a two‑and‑a‑half‑month‑old video in which he made the statement while discussing India and the intelligence agency RAW.
The daily Janakantha reported that the viral clip shows Ibrahim claiming he first declared independence “standing at the gunpoint of a rifle in 1971.” Several other outlets (1, 2, 3), including Barta Bazar, repeated the same claim. The news site The Daily Republic published a report headlined: “Deceptive attempt by Islamist Kazi Ibrahim to distort the history of 1971.” Social‑media users also spread the claim widely.
A keyword search led Dismislab to a 28‑second version of the clip circulating online. Its caption read: “The first declarer of independence was not BNP’s Ziaur Rahman or Jamaat’s Oli Ahmed, it was freedom fighter Dr. Mufti Kazi Ibrahim.” In the short video, Ibrahim says: “The declaration of independence was first made by this Kazi Ibrahim… standing at gunpoint… shouting ‘Independent Bangladesh Zindabad.’ ‘Rajakar dhor dhor, mar mar’ – whose slogan? Mine.”
But the original full‑length video was found on the YouTube channel Kazi Islamic TV, published on November 20 last year. In the unedited version, at the 45:03 mark of the 1‑hour‑27‑minute video, Ibrahim clearly states: “I first declared independence on September 27, 2021… standing amid RAW agents… shouting ‘Independent Bangladesh Zindabad.’” He repeats the date multiple times and refers specifically to RAW and the term “Hindustani,” which were removed in the edited version circulating online.
In short, the viral clip selectively edits out key context and changes the date, creating the false impression that Ibrahim claimed to have declared independence in 1971, rather than in 2021 as he originally said.
In September 2021, Dhaka Metropolitan Police detained Ibrahim from his Mohammadpur residence. Before the arrest, he delivered a 20‑minute Facebook Live speech. Police charged him under the Digital Security Act for spreading provocative and misleading information on social media.
Disclaimer: The original version of this fact-check report was published in Bengali on Dismislab’s Bengali website on February 11. 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.
