Pakistani-Canadian writer Tarek Fatah tweeted a video on August 28, writing, “This is not Karachi, Kashmir or Kerala. No, this chant of ‘Islam Zindabad’ is being raised in Kolkata, the capital city of #MamataBanerjee-ruled West Bengal!” While Fatah has since deleted this tweet, we have archived it here. The writer is known for sharing false information on several occasions over the years.
A user named Md. Sujon Rana posted the same video on August 21 on Facebook. In his caption, Rana wrote, “Islam is the religion of the state!” God willing, it will remain Islamic. This wish of atheists will never be fulfilled. If you do not like that Islam is the state religion, then leave Bengal! The state religion was, is and will remain Islam. Inshallah!” In the clip, it is apparent that a large number of the people protesting in the video are from the Muslim community.
[Translated from: “রাষ্ট্র ধর্ম ইসলাম আছে! ইসলামী থাকবে ইনশাআল্লাহ. নাস্তিকদের মনের আশা কোনদিন পূরণ হবে না “রাষ্ট্র ধর্ম ইসলাম ভালো না লাগলে! বাংলা ছেড়ে চলে যাও. রাষ্ট্রধর্ম ইসলাম ছিল, আছে, থাকবে ইনশাআল্লাহ.”]
রাষ্ট্র ধর্ম ইসলাম আছে!
ইসলামী থাকবে ইনশাআল্লাহ।নাস্তিকদের মনের আশা কোনদিন পূরণ হবে না ❌
“রাষ্ট্র ধর্ম ইসলাম ভালো না লাগলে! বাংলা ছেড়ে চলে যাও। রাষ্ট্রধর্ম ইসলাম ছিল, আছে, থাকবে _______ইনশাআল্লাহ______ ✅✅✅
Posted by Md Sujon Rana on Friday, 21 August 2020
Fact-check
In a brief moment in the video, one of the protestors can be seen holding the flag of Bangladesh.
Apart from this, many of the protestors are seen carrying placards and signs. One of these placards says ‘Islami shasantantra chhatra andolan’. This is the name of a student outfit of a Bangladeshi political party called Islami Andolon Bangladesh.
When we did a keyword search on YouTube based on this information, we found the same video which had been uploaded three years ago on September 13, 2017. The video is titled, “Bangladesh Islami Andolon Bangladesh enclose myanmar Embassy” and was uploaded by a channel called Spice InfoTube.
Another YouTube channel called The Rohingya Post had uploaded a similar video on September 13, 2017. Its description reads, “Thousands of Islami Andolon Bangladesh marched towards the Myanmar Embassy in Dhaka demanding an end to the atrocities on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. As per the previous declaration, thousands of supporters of the Islamist party started their protest march in front of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque around 12.30 PM on Wednesday. Police barred the protesters at Kakrail Mor but the agitating party men managed to shatter the barricade and continued marching forward until they encountered another police barricade at Shantinagar intersection.”
On September 13, 2017, The Financial Express reported, “Thousands of people in capital Dhaka have rallied in protests against the violence like killings and arsons against Rohingya Muslims in the northern Rakhine state of Myanmar.” Apart from this, Bangladesh news website Bangla News 24 had also published a report about this demonstration.
Therefore, a 3-year-old video from Bangladesh was shared online with claims that it was from West Bengal. The Kolkata Police had shared a screenshot of Tarek Fatah’s tweet clarifying that it was fake news. They also mentioned that they are taking the necessary legal action on the matter. A few hours after their tweet, Fatah issued a tweet apologizing for sharing misleading information.
#FakeNewsAlert
A video clip from Bangladesh is being falsely claimed to be from Kolkata. Legal action initiated. pic.twitter.com/v5MYLICKiI— Kolkata Police (@KolkataPolice) August 28, 2020
Priyanka Jha | Radio Free (2020-08-29T15:39:21+00:00) Old video from Bangladesh shared as ‘Islam Zindabad’ slogans raised in West Bengal. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/08/29/old-video-from-bangladesh-shared-as-islam-zindabad-slogans-raised-in-west-bengal/
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