Old photos, video of overcrowded Bangladesh trains resurface with opposition rally claim
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on October 25, 2022 at 11:48
- 4 min read
- By Mohammad MAZED, AFP Bangladesh
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The photos and the video were shared here on Facebook on October 22, 2022.
The post's Bengali-language caption translates to English as, “Ignoring hundreds of obstacles and attacks, BNP leaders and workers joined the Khulna divisional rally by train!!”
Thousands of people joined the BNP's anti-government rally in Khulna in October 2022, defying a transport strike that had cut the city off from the rest of the country to protest against the killing of five party activists and a widespread crackdown against the group in recent months.
The same photos and the video were shared here and here with a similar claim.
But the visuals have been shared in a false context. They have previously appeared online alongside old reports of overcrowded trains in Bangladesh.
Smithsonian magazine photo
A reverse image search on Google found the first photograph published on the website of the Smithsonian magazine's annual photo contest.
The description reads: "Massive gathering on a local train."
According to the website, the photo was taken by Dhaka-based photographer Rayhan Ahmed in January 2020.
Ahmed told AFP that his photo was being reshared in the false posts.
"I took this photo on January 12, 2020, during the Biswa Ijtema in Tongi, Dhaka," he said.
The Biswa Ijtema is the world’s second-largest congregation of Muslims, held every year about 30 kilometres (18.6 miles) north of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.
Below is a screenshot of the photo in the false post (left) and the photo published by the Smithsonian magazine (right):
Associated Press photo
A reverse image search on Google found the second photo of an overcrowded train was taken by Associated Press (AP) photographer Pavel Rahman on January 23, 2011, and it was also related to the Biswa Ijtema.
The photo's caption reads: "Thousands of Bangladeshi Muslims board overcrowded trains as they try to return home after attending the three-day Islamic Congregation on the banks of the river Turag in Tongi, outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011."
Below is a screenshot of the photo in the false post (left) and the Associated Press photo (right):
Trainspotting video
The video corresponds to the 31-second mark of this YouTube clip published on May 1, 2022, on a channel called BD Train Express, which regularly posts videos of trains in Bangladesh.
The video's Bengali-language description translates as: "This was not seen in two years (during the pandemic) as there was a ban on public transport on such trains.
"It is understood that Eid has come just by seeing the people return home this way."
The Muslim festival of Eid, when many Bangladeshis return to their home towns and villages, was celebrated on May 3, 2022, in the South Asian country.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in one of the false posts (left) and the BD Train Express YouTube clip (right):
The BD Train Express YouTube video's caption says the clip was filmed at "Balashpur Overpass, Mymensingh".
The location shown in the clip corresponds with this Google Street View imagery of railway tracks in Mymensingh, a city located north of Dhaka.
The image comparison below highlights the similarities between the video posted by BD Train Express (left) and the image from Google Street View (right), geolocating the video to Mymensingh.
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