Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to go on a two-day tour of Bangladesh on March 26, on the occasion of the country’s 50th Independence Day. Social media users began sharing a picture of a massive crowd, purportedly of locals protesting against the Indian PM’s visit. Many shared the image with the following Bangla caption, “Mashallah! Islamic parties protested against Modi in Dhaka today. The parties have shown that they do uphold patriotism and the religious cause! Long live Islamic unity!”
(Original caption: মাশাল্লাহ! ঢাকায় ইসলামী দলগুলোর আজকের মোদী বিরোধী আন্দোলন। ইসলামিক দলগুলো দেখিয়ে দিলো যে দেশপ্রেম এবং ধর্মপ্রেম তাদের হৃদয়ের মনিকোঠায় থাকে! অভিনন্দন ইসলামপ্রিয় তৌহিদী জনতা)
One Twitter user wrote an English caption that read, “Narendra Modi is not welcome even in Dhaka, despite tons of favours Modi bestowed upon Haseena Wajid, Bangladesh is out on the streets protesting against the upcoming state visit of PM Modi. This man has brought shame to India internationally.”
Old photo of anti-France rally in Bangladesh
Alt News performed a reverse image search and found reports on the anti-France rally held in Bangladesh last year. On October 28, 2020, New Straits Times reported that thousands of people took to the streets in protest against France on October 27, in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. Samuel Paty, a high school teacher in France, was beheaded by a Muslim youth for showing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed during class. French President Emmanuel Macron had defended the cartoon under the country’s secular tradition. This resulted in widespread outrage in Muslim-majority nations all over the world.
News Straits Times has attributed the photo to the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA). Its website confirms that the picture was shot during a protest in Bangladesh over Macron’s comments on the cartoon.
Therefore, social media users shared a six-month-old photo of an anti-France rally in Bangladesh, falsely claiming that it showed the public marching in protest of PM Modi’s upcoming Bangladesh visit.
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