FROM PAGE 3

the newly appointed president was accorded a reception by citizens of his home district, Pabna, at the Government Edward College ground, where he delivered the speech. At that time, Hasina was the prime minister of Bangladesh.

Dismislab found that in his speech, Shahabuddin did not say anything about bringing Hasina back to the country. The claim circulating online falsely attributes such a statement to him.

Therefore, the video claiming “Sheikh Hasina would return to Bangladesh before February this year” is old and pertains to a different incident. The speech did not mention Hasina returning to the country, added the Dismislab report.

Meanwhile, eggs were thrown at National Citizen Party (NCP) Chief Coordinator and the 11-party alliance’s Dhaka-8 candidate Nasiruddin Patwary on January 27 during a programme at Habibullah Bahar College in Dhaka. Following the incident, several posts circulated on social media claiming that a person standing beside Patwary at the time was a leader of the banned student organisation Bangladesh Chhatra League.

Rumor Scanner Bangladesh has verified the claim and found it to be false.

WHAT THE CLAIM SAID

Social media posts alleged that an individual seen standing next to Nasiruddin Patwary during the egg-throwing incident was a leader of Chhatra League.

WHAT THE FACT-CHECK FOUND

According to Rumor Scanner, the individual in question is Zakir Mahmud, not a Chhatra League leader.

During the verification process, Rumor Scanner traced multiple social media posts to identify Zakir Mahmud’s personal Facebook profile. A review of the profile found no evidence linking him to Chhatra League.

On the contrary, Rumor Scanner found that Zakir Mahmud actively participated in the July uprising. On March 20 last year, he shared a banner on his Facebook profile reading, “Ban Awami League or death (Awami League nishiddhokoron, othoba mrittu).” In the caption, he wrote, “If blood is needed, take blood; bury Awami League.”

Rumor Scanner noted that similar claims identifying Zakir Mahmud as a Chhatra League leader had also circulated on social media in July last year. At that time, the fact-checking organisation contacted Zakir Mahmud directly.

He told Rumor Scanner that he is an honours third-year student of Habibullah Bahar College and is not affiliated with Chhatra League.

He further said that he was injured by police gunfire during the July uprising and shared several photographs showing his injuries as supporting evidence.