Fake audio used to claim Jamaat Ameer said Pakistan funded Hasina’s ouster
A video was circulated on Facebook claiming that Jamaat Ameer Shafiqur Rahman said Jamaat-e-Islami brought $1 billion from Pakistan to remove Sheikh Hasina from power, while the BNP is now enjoying the benefits of being in power. However, a Dismislab fact-check found the claim to be false. In reality, the audio of one of his statements about the formation of the Special Response Battalion (SRB) was removed and a fabricated video was attached before the video was circulated.
On November 10, a Facebook profile named Tanni Chowdhury, whose identity is mentioned as the president of Banshkhali Upazila Jubo Mohila League, posted a video. The caption read, “Pakistan gave $1 million to remove Sheikh Hasina from power—and the BNP is now enjoying the benefits of being in power—Jamaat Ameer Shafiqur Rahman.”
In the 20-second video, Dr Shafiqur Rahman can be heard saying, “We brought $1 billion from Pakistan to remove Sheikh Hasina from power. We strengthened the movement by carrying out attacks in different places using our party activists. We made the main plan, but Mr Tarique Rahman is now enjoying the benefits of being in power. From now on, our party activists must receive a share of the contributions. Otherwise, the $1 billion will have to be returned.”
Until the publication of this report, the video had been viewed more than 170,000 times and shared about 1,000 times.
The video was also posted by several other Facebook profiles and pages (1, 2, 3).
Dismislab conducted a reverse image search using keyframes from the video. This led to a video published on the YouTube channel of news outlet Bayanno TV on November 6. From 2 minutes and 19 seconds into that video, Shafiqur Rahman’s gestures match exactly those seen from the six-second mark onward in the circulating video. However, in the original video, Shafiqur Rahman made no remarks about receiving assistance from Pakistan to remove Sheikh Hasina or about Jamaat activists receiving a share of contributions.
The Jamaat chief can be heard saying, “Abolish the RAB. If another force like that is needed, discuss it and form one after taking time. Restructure it. Those who are in this force came from different places… some from the police, some from the army, some from the air force, and some from the BGB. Send each of them back to their respective organizations.”
Several news outlets have published reports on the event. A report published in the online edition of Jago News on November 6 said that Dr Shafiqur Rahman delivered the keynote address at a discussion meeting organized by Jamaat-e-Islami’s Dhaka Metropolitan North unit on Friday (November 6), to mark National Revolution and Solidarity Day. He also spoke about abolishing RAB at the meeting.
In other words, the audio of a statement by Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman was edited to spread the false claim that the party had brought dollars from Pakistan to remove Sheikh Hasina from power.
