Man wounded in Bangladesh religious clashes debunks death rumours

This article is more than one year old.
Published on March 13, 2023 at 10:39
2 min read
By AFP Bangladesh

A man wounded in religious clashes in Bangladesh has debunked rumours of his death. Mohammad Rifat Anjum said he suffered a serious eye injury as thousands of Muslims protested against a minority sect, but that he was recovering after receiving treatment in hospital. Rifat's father confirmed he is alive and said his son is shown in a photo circulating in false Facebook posts.

"Another brother was martyred," reads a Bengali-language Facebook post shared on March 4, alongside a photo of a man with his eyes closed slumped against a wall.

"Another was martyred during the anti-Qadiani movement in Panchagarh. May Allah grant him the highest place in heaven."

A screenshot of the false post on Facebook taken on March 4 ( Qadaruddin SHISHIR)

Qadiani is a term used to refer to Bangladesh's minority Ahmadi sect, who many mainstream Muslims consider "infidels".

At least one person was killed in the northern town of Panchagarh on March 3 after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at thousands of protesters who torched Ahmadi homes.

Ahmadi Muslim spokesman Ahmad Tabshir Choudhury said one member of his community was also killed in the clashes, but police did not confirm this second death.

The men reportedly killed were named by local media as Ariful Haque, who belonged to the Sunni Muslim majority, and Zahid Hasan, an Ahmadi man.

But shortly after the unrest, a photo showing Rifat circulated in various Facebook posts claiming he had died in the violence. The false claims include those here, here and here, as well as Twitter posts.

AFP was able to trace the Facebook profile of the man in the photo, whose full name is Mohammad Rifat Anjum.

Keyword searches on Facebook found another, similar photo of Rifat that displayed his name.

A photo of the injured man shared in posts falsely claiming he died (left) and the same man in Facebook posts identifying him as Mohammad Rifat Anjum (right)

He debunked rumours of his death in a Facebook post on March 6, three days after the clashes.

"Hello brothers, I am in good health," he wrote.

"There are rumours being spread about me in Panchagarh! Yesterday (March 5) I had an operation in Dhaka. Now I am well, praise be to God!"

His father Zamirul Islam confirmed to AFP that the man in the photo circulating alongside the false claims is his son. He said Rifat was receiving treatment in hospital.

Rifat told AFP on March 10 that he was recovering from a serious eye injury sustained in the clashes.

"I had an operation on my eyes and am now feeling better," he said. "Doctors told me it will take a long time to recover my full sight."

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Man wounded in Bangladesh religious clashes debunks death rumours

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