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A video which shows a man walking around a market, asking shopkeepers to boycott goods made in India, has gone viral on social media platforms.
Those sharing the video claim that it shows a recent video of people in Bangladesh doing so, after the formation of the new government headed by Chief Adviser Mohammed Yunus.
In the video, the man can be heard naming Indian brands and products like Dabur honey, Parachute oil, Ujala detergent, among others, asking the vendor not to sell them.
How did we find out the truth?: We used InVID, a video verification extension on Google Chrome, to divide the video into keyframes.
Following this with a reverse image search led us to a post carrying the same video on Facebook, shared by one Tamanna Firdouz Shikha on 22 February 2024.
We went through the posts shared by this account, which led us to a video showing the same man speaking, with a placard which reads 'Gono Adhikar Parishad' in the background.
Another video, shared with the hashtag #tarekgop, showing the same person, identified him as Tareq Rahman.
Taking a cue from this, we ran a keyword search using his name, along with 'Gono Adhikar Parishad' on Google, which led us to a Facebook page named 'Tarek/Gana Adhikar Parishad'.
Here, we saw a similar video of Tarek talking to shopkeepers about not selling Indian brands and products, reading off a leaflet to offer Bangladeshi alternatives instead.
He had also shared the leaflet listing Indian products on this Facebook page.
We saw posts sharing the link to his YouTube channel.
On his channel, called 'Tarek's Time', we saw that Rahman had shared the viral video on 22 February himself, titled 'Going to the shop, I am warning not to keep Indian products.'
Bangladesh's 'India Out' campaign: Using relevant keywords, we looked for more information regarding this boycott.
A report by Al Jazeera, published in February, mentioned that the call to boycott Indian products came "amid allegations of Indian interference in national elections."
It mentioned that a campaign was launched after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's secured a historic fourth term, adding that many believed India favoured Hasina's government and had a strained relationship with opposition parties.
The Gono Adhikar Parishad, which is aligned with the opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was "promoting the boycott movement," it read.
Conclusion: An old video showing a Bangladeshi man campaigning to boycott Indian products is being falsely shared as a recent one.
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