Photo doctored to claim Bangladesh opposition leader mocked anti-government rallies

A Facebook post from October 28 falsely claims Zia was writing Bengali words that describe protest movements as a "dead horse".

The manipulated image appears to show her beside a young boy as she produces a vowel and a consonant from the Bengali alphabet and examples of words that begin with them.

These examples are "andolon", meaning protest movement, and "kochu hobe", which roughly translates as dead horse.

The Facebook post says in Bengali: “The date was the 28th. 'Aa' for andolon, 'K' for kochu hobe. This will happen today.”

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A screenshot of the altered image on Facebook

On October 28, more than 100,000 supporters of Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and other opposition groups took to the streets to demand Prime Minister Hasina’s resignation and fresh elections under a neutral government.

A police officer and one protester were killed while scores of other people were injured during several hours of violent clashes in the capital Dhaka.

Zia, who is currently BNP chairperson, is a former prime minister and the main political rival to Hasina.

In 2018 she was imprisoned on corruption charges but was released two years later as her health worsened. Her supporters say the case was politically motivated (archived link).

The Facebook post implies that as a former prime minister, Zia is aware that protests are futile, including against Hasina, who has ruled Bangladesh for 15 years.

The doctored image has been shared elsewhere on Facebook, including here, here and here, along with similar messages falsely claiming Zia was undermining protest movements.

The genuine photo was actually shot 30 years ago and shows different text on the blackboard.

'Encouraging a student'

A reverse image search on Google found an identical photo was posted in 2017 to Zia's account on X, formerly known as Twitter (archived link).

This image shows the vowel sounds "a", "aa", "i" and "ee" written on the board in Bengali script. There is no mention of "andolon" or "kochu hobe".

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The manipulated photo on Facebook (left) alongside the picture posted in 2017 to Zia's account on X (right). The genuine text on the blackboard is marked in yellow

AFP also searched for the photo in history books and newspaper editions archived in Bangladeshi libraries.

A very similar picture was published on November 29, 1993 in at least four leading newspapers -- The Daily Inqilab, The Dainik Bangla, The Bhorer Kagoj and The Daily Sangbad.

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A very similar picture of Zia was published on November 29, 1993 in at least four leading Bangladeshi newspapers -- The Daily Inqilab, The Dainik Bangla, The Bhorer Kagoj and the Daily Sangbad. The photo is marked in red by AFP

It shows Zia in the same clothes next to the same boy as they look at the blackboard.

“Prime Minister Khaleda Zia encourages a student to study in a school set up at a cyclone shelter facility in Saint Martin Island in Cox’s Bazar district yesterday,” reads a caption under the photo in The Daily Inqilab.

This image also shows the vowel sounds "a", "aa", "i" and "ee" on the blackboard in Bengali script. There is again no mention of "andolon" or "kochu hobe".

Below is the doctored image from social media (left) alongside the 1993 photo in The Daily Inqilab (right). Matching elements are highlighted in red and blue by AFP, while the altered text on the blackboard is marked in yellow.

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The doctored image from social media (left) alongside the 1993 photo in The Daily Inqilab (right). Matching elements are highlighted in red and blue by AFP, while the altered text on the blackboard is marked in yellow