Shots in protest: Spreading rumors using old images, false identity of gunman
Several pictures of armed people in the ongoing anti-discrimination student movement have been circulating on social media since August 2. The Bangladesh Awami League and its supporters claim from various pages and profiles that the gunmen in these pictures are agitators or leaders of anti-government political parties. However, after verifying three of these images, Dismislab found that two were old and unrelated to the current movement. Furthermore, a media report has emerged stating that the gunman in the third image is affiliated with the ruling party’s organization.
The picture is old, of a member of the Jubo League
On August 2, a graphics card containing three pictures was posted on the official Facebook page of the Awami League. One of the pictures shows a man in a shirt, blue jeans, and a red helmet firing a gun. The post claimed that the police were taking an injured teenager to the hospital and that the boy had been shot by Masuk Ahmed, the organizing secretary of Shibir. Similar posts were found on Facebook (1, 2), echoing the same claim. The posts stated, the movement now belongs to the opposition party. They want to kill your child to seize power by standing on their dead bodies.
Verification shows that the picture is not from the recent movement, but from 2023. On August 17 of that year, a report published in Prothom Alo featured the image of a man with a gun. In the caption of the photo, he is identified as Belal Uddin, the Jubo League President of Ward No. 7 of Chakaria Municipality in Cox’s Bazar. According to reports, there was a clash that day over the ‘Gayebana janaza’ (funeral-in-absentia prayers) for the late Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee, who was sentenced to imprisonment until death for crimes against humanity. The report from Dainik Ajker Patrika also states that the young man with the gun is Belal Uddin. Therefore, the picture is not from the recent movement in Sylhet, and the identity of the gunman given in the post is also false
The gunman is not one of the protesters
Another similar post went viral on social media that same day. The image in the post shows a man dressed in light turquoise running with a weapon. In various posts circulating on Facebook (1, 2), the picture is alternately claimed to be from Dhaka’s Uttara Sector 11 or in Lakshmipur, of the ongoing anti-discrimination movement. One post suggests that the gunman was one of the agitators, while two other posts identified him as a member of Shibir.
Verification shows that the incident took place on August 2, in Lakshmipur. The picture depicts a clash between Jubo League and Chhatra League leaders and the agitators. According to the news, the person who openly chased the students with a gun is Md. Russell, the driver of the Upazila Parishad chairman and the former president of the District Jubo League, AKM Salauddin, also known as Tipu.
The picture is at least six years old
A graphic card posted by the Bangladesh Awami League’s verified page with pictures of some motorcycle riders claimed they were the activists of Bangladesh Chhatra Shibir of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, who had come to the field after Juma prayers on August 2 (Friday). The caption reads, “After the holy Juma prayers, the anti-national militant #JamaatShibir took the field to disturb the holy city of Sylhet. The literary editor of the SUST Chhatrashibir with native weapons, Piyal Hasan, and Sharif Mahmud, president of the Sylhet Mahanagar Chhatrashibir, dressed in Punjabi. Dear parent, Using your child as a shield, standing over his corpse, they wanted to go on power. This country will not become a sanctuary for #terrorists.”
However, verification shows that the picture is at least 6 years old and not related to the recent movement. A reverse image search found the picture on Sylhettoday24, a local online newspaper from Sylhet. In a report published on July 21, 2018, the incident was described as footage of an attack on the Maursi restaurant owned by former Awami Jubo League leader Abdul Hannan. According to reports, Shibir workers attacked the Jubo League leader’s restaurant. The image was also found on social media in 2018. Later, in a press release, Jamaat leader and independent mayoral candidate for Sylhet City Corporation (SCC), Advocate Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair’s workers and supporters, were accused of attacking the restaurant.
The movement demanding quota reform started in Bangladesh on July 1. From July 15, the movement gradually turned violent. The agitators clashed with the law enforcement agencies and the Chhatra League. Unofficially The number of people killed, including protesting students, exceeded two hundred in the clashes and violence surrounding the movement. Later, it was alleged by the government that the opposition party BNP and Jamaat-Shibir leaders were involved in these clashes. On July 28, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said in a meeting with Gabriel Maria Sistiaga Ochoa de Chinchetru, the ambassador of Spain appointed to Bangladesh, “Terrorists of Jamaat-Shibir infiltrated the quota movement in disguise.” Finally, on August 1, the government issued a gazette notification banning Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir.
