Video of slogans in Dhanmondi predates Hasina’s recent press conference
A video post on the social media platform Facebook has claimed that Mujib Sainiks (“soldiers of Mujib,” a term used by Awami League supporters invoking the legacy of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) chanted slogans in Dhanmondi following ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s press conference on 5 August. However, Dismislab’s fact-check has found that the circulated video is nearly two months old. It is, in fact, footage from the janaza (Islamic funeral prayer) of former Awami League minister Tofail Ahmed.
On 5 August, the video was posted from a Facebook account with the caption: “After Jononetri [Leader of the People] Sheikh Hasina’s press conference, the streets of Dhanmondi echoed with slogans from the Mujib Sainiks — Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Hasina will return, Bangladesh will smile.” In the 2-minute-27-second video, a voice can be heard in the background saying, “Viewers can see that slogans of Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Hasina are being raised in Dhanmondi.” As of the publication of this report, the video had been viewed more than 388,000 times. The post had drawn more than 37,000 reactions and had been shared more than 2,200 times. The same claim was also circulated from multiple Facebook profiles (1, 2, 3) and pages (1, 2, 3).
To verify the claim, Dismislab conducted a reverse image search using several keyframes from the video. This revealed an exact match with a video published on the Facebook page of Daily Desher Potro on 1 June (2026). That video was also exactly 2 minutes and 27 seconds long. Its caption read, “Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Hasina slogans at Tofail Ahmed’s janaza.”
A search using related keywords also yielded reports from various news outlets about the events of that day. According to a report published by Prothom Alo on 1 June, “Following Tofail Ahmed’s janaza in the capital’s Dhanmondi, some individuals raised Joy Bangla slogans. When a commotion broke out, police detained seven people from the scene.”
In other words, the circulated video was not a reaction to any press conference by ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, but rather footage from the aftermath of Tofail Ahmed’s janaza.
It is worth noting that on 5 August, Sheikh Hasina joined a press conference organized virtually by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia in Delhi. It was the first time she directly answered journalists’ questions since losing power and leaving the country.
(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.)
