Clipped Video of Bangladeshi Activist's Speech Goes Viral With Communal Claim
The original video shows Bangladeshi activist Saifuddin Mohammad Amdad criticizing members of the Awami League.
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A video showing a man delivering a speech on stage is going viral to claim that he belongs to the Muslim community from Bangladesh and is speaking against Hindus residing in Bangladesh.
The caption states that, "Hindus are being given an ultimatum to leave the country within 7 days in Bangladesh. Saying, Your fathers are gone, your aunts are scared, you too go away." (sic)
What is he saying?: The man in the video is speaking in Bengali and say, "I want to warn if we have to go to the streets for their trial, we will again protest on the streets. They are still plotting, I don't know if you are aware. Sometimes in the name of Hindus, sometimes in the name of minorities, sometimes in the name of Chittagong Press Club and so called journalists. I want to warn them, do not delay and give excuses. Fold your tail and run from the country immediately. Your fathers have left, your brothers have left, Sheikh Hasina has left. Don't mess around, I warn you. I am giving you one week ultimatum. One week of ultimatum and then we will deal with you guys. As long as we are alive we will deal with you."
(Archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.)
What's the truth?: The original video shows Bangladeshi activist Saifuddin Mohammad Emdad criticising the supporters and members of the Awami League of Bangladesh.
The video has been cropped to shared with misleading and incomplete context.
How did we find out the truth?: On performing a relevant keyword search on Google, we came across a post on X (formerly Twitter) of a Bangladeshi reporter, Shohanur Rahman.
Rahman clarified that this viral claim is false and identified the man from the viral video as Saifuddin Mohammad Emdad, also known as Emdad Babu, who is a Bangladeshi activist.
He added that Emdad made a statement against the previous government and its associates who had previously attacked on student protesters in Bangladesh.
He also added that this speech was delivered during a program titled "July Remembrance and Cultural Evening," organized by a social organization named 'Bikiron' in Chittagong.
The post also carried a link to a YouTube video of the entire speech but from a different angle.
In the video, Emdad is speaking against the previous Awami League government in Bangladesh and its associates, not the Hindu community.
Here is an another video of Emdad's entire speech.
In the original video, he clearly addresses the supporters of Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League at the beginning of his speech.
We also reached out to a Bangladeshi reporter, Md Shabuj Mahmud, Senior Broadcast Journalist, Independent Television, who confirmed that this claim is false.
"He (Emdad) was threatening the supporters and remaining members of the ousted Awami League party. Not to hindu community," Mahmud adds.
Conclusion: A clipped video of a man delivering a speech in Bangladesh is going viral with a false communal claim.
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